Since I started covering the White House in May 1986, I have traveled on Air Force One more than 200 times and visited all 50 states and 60 countries.
In the process, I became familiar not only with the planes available to the White House, but also with the presidents I observed on board—Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. These personal insights have been invaluable as a supplement to my research on the larger theme of the 12 presidents who have taken to the air since Franklin Roosevelt became the first of our leaders to fly, in 1943. As a result, I occasionally will enter the narrative of this book as an eyewitness to the events I describe.
All in all, I hope Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes will provide a fresh perspective not only on these leaders, but also on the history of the past 60 years.
K.T.W.