DAYTON, OHIO – On Nov. 22, 2013, the world marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. One of the most historic artifacts associated with that fateful day is on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000, Kennedy’s Air Force One, is exhibited in the museum’s Presidential Gallery. He flew aboard SAM 26000 to Dallas, Texas, where he was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963 – and it was on this airplane that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the new president. SAM 26000 then carried Kennedy’s body and Johnson back to Washington, D.C.
This U.S. Air Force Boeing VC-137C aircraft was the first jet made specifically for use by the President of the United States. Built in 1962, this aircraft carried eight presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton, in addition to carrying heads of state, diplomats and other dignitaries and officials, on many historic journeys. More information about the aircraft and its most historic missions is available at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=570.