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CNN Live Today

Wheels of the Eagle: Flying with the President

Aired May 16, 2003 - 10:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush made headlines and history when he flew onto an aircraft carrier aboard a Navy jet recently, and it was a big departure from the president's usual mode of travel aboard Air Force One. Over the years Air Force One has taken American leaders around the world, becoming one of the most visible symbols of the presidency.
And our guest this morning, Kenneth T. Walsh, has written a book, "Air Force One: A history of the presidents and their planes."

He joins us now from Washington to talk about 60 years of presidential flight, and he should know quite a bit about it, because Ken is also the chief White House correspondent for "U.S. News & World Report," which, by the way, is featuring this piece today -- or this week, rather, on the cover.

Good to see you, Ken. How are you?

KENNETH T. WALSH, AUTHOR, "AIR FORCE ONE": Delighted to be here. Thank you.

HARRIS: This is a fascinating topic, because I think a lot of people will be surprised to learn just how much each president has been able to sort of tailor Air Force One to their taste. Give our viewers this morning a taste of exactly how that works out.

WALSH: Exactly. Well, there are 12 presidents who have flown since Franklin Roosevelt became the first president to fly 60 years ago this year in 1943. And each president creates his own habitat on the plane. Franklin Roosevelt only flew three times. He really didn't like to fly, but he showed himself as this gregarious man who was actually quite empathetic and interested in the people around him.

Harry Truman, his successor, was sort of an impish, mischievous guy. He once ordered his pilot to dive-bomb the White House to sort of give his wife and daughter a little show. Now, you can't imagine anything like that happening today, but Harry Truman did it 58 years ago. And...

HARRIS: Well, how does the look on the inside reflect each of these men?

WALSH: Well, President Kennedy was the man who really pioneered the glamour and excitement that's symbolized by Air Force One. Jackie Kennedy came up with the design scheme and that powder blue and that white color scheme.

HARRIS: Is that right?

WALSH: That's Jackie Kennedy's scheme. She developed that with an industrial designer, and they've kept it ever since. She also had fine art installed on the plane. She brought china on the plane. It was part of that whole effort to sort of glamorize the presidency, as symbolized by the aircraft. And...

HARRIS: You know, looking back, that does kind of make sense. If you look at that color, you see ever other thing about, you know, the American, I guess, color scheme. It's a strong, forceful color with red, blue and dark blue, navy blue, and then light blue on the plane. I never really realized that.

WALSH: Exactly. And President Kennedy also took the military terminology from the plane, and he had those giant "United States of America" letters put on it. He wanted to expand the symbolism to show it was the people's plane represented by the president.

And then going up to more recent times, President Lyndon Johnson, of course, had the single most memorable photograph taken on the plane, when Kennedy was assassinated.

HARRIS: That's right.

WALSH: He was sworn in on the aircraft. And a lot of Americans remember seeing that shot of him with his right hand raised, with his wife, Lady Bird, standing on his right, and Jackie Kennedy standing on his left looking just absolutely grieve-stricken and dazed.

HARRIS: Let me ask you something about that, too, because I saw that in looking at this article here in "U.S. News," it does a pretty good job of showing the layout of the plane. And there is mention here that there's an operating table on board this plane. Is it because of that incident with Kennedy?

WALSH: Yes. And the sad fact is that the operating table in a medical clinic was installed on the aircraft when the 747 was brought in, in 1990. They always want to have an emergency operating procedure available for the president, and it's actually an operating table that pulls down from the wall. And the White House physicians value that a lot, because they feel that it gives them a lot more options in the case of a real catastrophe.

HEMMER: All right, Ken, we have to go, but I've got to ask you real quickly, if you can just encapsulate some of the other things you talk about in this piece. Give our viewers this morning two quick -- or one quick example, if you can, of the difference between the way President George W. Bush travels on Air Force One versus the way President Clinton traveled on Air Force One.

WALSH: Absolutely. President Clinton was much more of a classic baby boomer. He loved to talk, loved to mingle, loved to socialize. He was all over the plane into the wee hours talking to everybody. President Bush today really stays in the front of the plane, stays in his cabin, much more disciplined, and has a treadmill on the plane. Instead of playing hearts and card games like President Clinton did, President Bush prefers to work out on the treadmill, and he has some very vigorous workouts. He really a fitness buff, and you see that very much on Air Force One.

HARRIS: All right, the book is called "Air Force One: A history of the presidents and their planes." Kenneth T. Walsh, thank you very much. Appreciate the insight. Good luck to you with the book and also with "U.S. News & World Report." Take care.

WALSH: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired May 16, 2003 - 10:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush made headlines and history when he flew onto an aircraft carrier aboard a Navy jet recently, and it was a big departure from the president's usual mode of travel aboard Air Force One. Over the years Air Force One has taken American leaders around the world, becoming one of the most visible symbols of the presidency.
And our guest this morning, Kenneth T. Walsh, has written a book, "Air Force One: A history of the presidents and their planes."

He joins us now from Washington to talk about 60 years of presidential flight, and he should know quite a bit about it, because Ken is also the chief White House correspondent for "U.S. News & World Report," which, by the way, is featuring this piece today -- or this week, rather, on the cover.

Good to see you, Ken. How are you?

KENNETH T. WALSH, AUTHOR, "AIR FORCE ONE": Delighted to be here. Thank you.

HARRIS: This is a fascinating topic, because I think a lot of people will be surprised to learn just how much each president has been able to sort of tailor Air Force One to their taste. Give our viewers this morning a taste of exactly how that works out.

WALSH: Exactly. Well, there are 12 presidents who have flown since Franklin Roosevelt became the first president to fly 60 years ago this year in 1943. And each president creates his own habitat on the plane. Franklin Roosevelt only flew three times. He really didn't like to fly, but he showed himself as this gregarious man who was actually quite empathetic and interested in the people around him.

Harry Truman, his successor, was sort of an impish, mischievous guy. He once ordered his pilot to dive-bomb the White House to sort of give his wife and daughter a little show. Now, you can't imagine anything like that happening today, but Harry Truman did it 58 years ago. And...

HARRIS: Well, how does the look on the inside reflect each of these men?

WALSH: Well, President Kennedy was the man who really pioneered the glamour and excitement that's symbolized by Air Force One. Jackie Kennedy came up with the design scheme and that powder blue and that white color scheme.

HARRIS: Is that right?

WALSH: That's Jackie Kennedy's scheme. She developed that with an industrial designer, and they've kept it ever since. She also had fine art installed on the plane. She brought china on the plane. It was part of that whole effort to sort of glamorize the presidency, as symbolized by the aircraft. And...

HARRIS: You know, looking back, that does kind of make sense. If you look at that color, you see ever other thing about, you know, the American, I guess, color scheme. It's a strong, forceful color with red, blue and dark blue, navy blue, and then light blue on the plane. I never really realized that.

WALSH: Exactly. And President Kennedy also took the military terminology from the plane, and he had those giant "United States of America" letters put on it. He wanted to expand the symbolism to show it was the people's plane represented by the president.

And then going up to more recent times, President Lyndon Johnson, of course, had the single most memorable photograph taken on the plane, when Kennedy was assassinated.

HARRIS: That's right.

WALSH: He was sworn in on the aircraft. And a lot of Americans remember seeing that shot of him with his right hand raised, with his wife, Lady Bird, standing on his right, and Jackie Kennedy standing on his left looking just absolutely grieve-stricken and dazed.

HARRIS: Let me ask you something about that, too, because I saw that in looking at this article here in "U.S. News," it does a pretty good job of showing the layout of the plane. And there is mention here that there's an operating table on board this plane. Is it because of that incident with Kennedy?

WALSH: Yes. And the sad fact is that the operating table in a medical clinic was installed on the aircraft when the 747 was brought in, in 1990. They always want to have an emergency operating procedure available for the president, and it's actually an operating table that pulls down from the wall. And the White House physicians value that a lot, because they feel that it gives them a lot more options in the case of a real catastrophe.

HEMMER: All right, Ken, we have to go, but I've got to ask you real quickly, if you can just encapsulate some of the other things you talk about in this piece. Give our viewers this morning two quick -- or one quick example, if you can, of the difference between the way President George W. Bush travels on Air Force One versus the way President Clinton traveled on Air Force One.

WALSH: Absolutely. President Clinton was much more of a classic baby boomer. He loved to talk, loved to mingle, loved to socialize. He was all over the plane into the wee hours talking to everybody. President Bush today really stays in the front of the plane, stays in his cabin, much more disciplined, and has a treadmill on the plane. Instead of playing hearts and card games like President Clinton did, President Bush prefers to work out on the treadmill, and he has some very vigorous workouts. He really a fitness buff, and you see that very much on Air Force One.

HARRIS: All right, the book is called "Air Force One: A history of the presidents and their planes." Kenneth T. Walsh, thank you very much. Appreciate the insight. Good luck to you with the book and also with "U.S. News & World Report." Take care.

WALSH: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.