The Presidential Wheels - November 5th, 2008
The intersection of presidential politics and automotive technology can be found in the White House motor fleet, a staple of executive travel since 1909 when Congress appropriated money for the first vehicles for a chief executive: a seven-passenger White Model M steam car, two gasoline-powered Pierce-Arrows, and a Baker Electric.
Back in those days presidential cars were not that different from the cars of the common folk and sometimes the president would buy the car and take it with him as Woodrow Wilson did when he paid $3,000 for the 1919 Pierce-Arrow he’d used in the White House. Herbert Hoover went home with a Cadillac V-16.
All that came to an end, however, in February 1933 when an assassin attempted to kill Franklin D. Roosevelt in an open Buick on a visit to Miami. The day of the armored limo, a Cadillac the Treasury Department had seized from gangster Al Capone, had arrived. (For more on the history of presidential wheels, see this article from the New York Times. [Registration for a free NYT account my be required.])
During his eight years in office, President George W. Bush has used a Cadillac customized by O’Gara, Hess and Eisenhart of Fairfield, Ohio, specialists in armouring limousines for presidents and heads of state. In addition to the trademark dark windows, the limo has state-of-the-art communications, a hidden desktop in the rear, and is outfitted with a gas-proof chamber.
Wherever the Commander in Chief goes, so goes the presidential car, transported by the Air Force for use on all trips at home and abroad. (It is anticipated that President-elect Obama will have a brand new model at his disposal when he takes office in January 2009.)
Posted on November 5th, 2008 by Shorty
Filed under: lifestyle |
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