AIR FORCE ONE: The Aircraft That Shaped the Modern Presidency

This compelling history of presidential air transportation begins with the first president to fly (and to fly abroad, and to have a special plane): FDR. Eisenhower and Truman both had dedicated prop planes, but JFK took the leap into the jet age with the 707 that had the grimmest task of any Air Force One—bringing his body home from Dallas. Other Air Force Ones have had less well-known dramas: Lyndon Johnson's impromptu around-the-world flight in 1967, Richard Nixon's last departure from Washington and Bush's escorted, circuitous route home after 9/11. But mostly the 707s and their successors the 747s have made the president accessible to the world and vice versa, without having to be out of touch with his responsibilities or reducing his security. The price of this is imposing; a double-page spread shows the logistics of a major presidential journey abroad. Among any number of fascinating sidebars are digressions on the transportation of other chief executives and on the presidential helicopters. With well-chosen and well-reproduced photographs, the author, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, has provided a sterling contribution to the history of both the presidency and of American aviation and even includes an annotated bibliography of print, visual and electronic media. (Oct.)