Presidential Perks Gone Royal Read online

  But devoting a small chapter to this presidential perk serves a significant purpose in our discussion; to me, it is a perfect example of the total care and comfort we provide for a president and his family. Not unlike her beloved corgis that so famously obey every gesture and command of Britain’s reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth, America’s First Pet, Bo, a black-and-white Portuguese Water Dog, is a symbol of the President as master of every aspect of his life and his job.

  Furthermore, it is another prime example of how, unknowingly, we citizens have accepted responsibility for any presidential whim, no matter how personal, no matter how small. Our willingness to relieve presidential families of responsibility for any chore, even something so basic as cleaning up after a pet, shows how far we have let our presidents become separated from the normal day-to-day lives of the nation’s populace.

  First families generally have at least one pet. Even if they don’t want one, their public relations people often recommend it. Dogs especially give an important touch of warmth to first family photo ops. This also explains why few first families have had cats; it is hard to get a cat to come when called, perform tricks for the cameras, or look like it really cares about its owners. In contrast, dogs are naturally friendly, making for good camera fodder, and almost every first family has had at least one dog, more often two. Some first families have had a kennel-full, insuring that there is always a dog or two on hand for the media to snap pictures of and report about.

  John Quincy Adams had a dog—and by the way, he also had a pet alligator that he kept in a bathroom in the east Room. Martin Van Buren had dogs and a pair of tiger cubs. If you want to talk about a patriotic and “republican” stable, James Buchanan had a pair of bald eagles and two elephants! President Harrison’s family had dogs but they also had a goat named old Whiskers. The Hardings had a dog named Laddie Boy and a pet squirrel named Pete. Woodrow Wilson had a ram that liked to chew tobacco. Wilson also kept a herd of sheep on the White House lawn. During WWI, the President kept the sheep in support of the war effort. The sheep cut the lawn by eating the grass, and their wool was auctioned to raise money for the American Red Cross.

  President Wilson’s sheep on the White House lawn...

  (Photo with permission from the Woodrow Wilson House, Washington DC)

  President Calvin Coolidge’s wife, Grace, cuddles a favorite pet, Rebecca , the raccoon

  (Reprinted with permission from the Vermont Historical Society)

  President Coolidge had a dog named Rob Roy, and First Lady Grace Coolidge had a pet raccoon named Rebecca, which had its own house on the White House grounds and was fed an exotic diet of green shrimp and persimmon.

  During the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt every schoolchild could tell you his dog’s name was Fala. Caroline Kennedy had dogs, cats, a canary, hamsters, rabbits, and a pony named Macaroni.

  When Lyndon Johnson’s mutt, Yuki, howled for the camera, LBJ howled along with her. Bill Clinton had a cat named Socks and a golden retriever named Buddy. Barbara Bush wrote a book about her dog Millie, and when Millie had pups, she turned what had been Nancy Reagan’s White House hair salon room into a dog nursery. The Obamas added the traditional dog, this one named by Sasha and Malia after Mrs. Obama’s father’s nickname and the first name of musician Bo Diddley. Bo became the nation’s top dog.

  Coming off Air Force One at Andrew’s Air Force Base, well-rested First Canine Bo Obama makes his way back to White House after family vacation on Mar tha’s Vineyard.

  (Photo with permission from AP Photo / Alex Brandon)

  Bo made the news when he and his handler were flown to join the president on vacation in Maine. It has been reported that the first family’s dog handler was paid $102,000, last year. One wonders if he also was among the White House employees we were told received a 9% raise.

  Are you still wondering why you should care whether a first family chooses to have one presidential pet, or a vast number of pets, during the family’s stay at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Well, consider this: when the photographers are not present and the presidential kids are tired of playing with them, who tends the first families’ pets? If you live in the White House, you don’t have to worry about training your pet, feeding your pet, walking your pet, building a house for your pet, entertaining your pet, or cleaning up after your pet. Around the clock, the taxpayers pay for folks to do that for you. That’s just another budget item in that long list of totally indulgent first family perks.

  “The average American could buy a house for the amount of money it takes to run Air Force One every hour. The U.S. Military has provided an updated estimate on that cost...and the number is staggering -$181,757 per hour.”

  —Fox News, November 24, 2010

  Chapter Eight

  BillionAir! Flight Services

  Fit for a King

  As we have written, Columbine III, the presidential aircraft used during Eisenhower’s terms, cost the taxpayers a little under $3 million. Today’s Air Force One and its twin, Air Force Two, cost us nearly $650,000,000, an increase just short of twenty two thousand percent! (22,000%)! And that $650 million is just the original cost of the airplanes. It does not include the fuel, maintenance, crews, training and practice runs, accompanying planes, backup or replacement planes and their crews, the hangars, supplies and spare parts, and everything else that goes into making these expensive birds fly smoothly. Also not included in that $650 million price tag is a staff of more than sixty individuals who ready the airplanes for flight, chart their paths, arrange the provisioning, supervise the interior maintenance, and, except for ticketing, handle the myriad tasks of your average commercial airline staff.

  A rough estimate of how much all this costs is ready at hand; the annual budget of the United States Air Force includes an additional $200,000,000―that’s 200 million!―just for Air Force One operations.

  According to our military source, flying Air Force One for one hour, considering the military and civilian in-air and on-ground support, the fuel and maintenance of one plus its tagalong and support aircraft, costs the taxpayers $181,757! $181,757.00 an hour! Remember that the next time Air Force One comes to your town. How many hours was it round-trip from Washington? For political purposes?

  Air Force One carrying President Barack Obama lands aboard Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, CA Sept 2011. Obama flew into Miramar before a presidential campaign stop in La Jolla.

  (Photo reprinted with permission from the Department of Defense)

  President Obama waves to guests and service members as he exits Air Force One in Miramar, CA.

  (Photo reprinted with permission from the Department of Defense)

  In 1943, President Roosevelt became the first of our presidents to fly while in office. Ten years later, a commercial aircraft entered the same airspace as the airplane carrying President Eisenhower. It was an honest error. Ike’s airplane was Air Force 8610, which became confused by air traffic controllers with an eastern Airline’s flight, also numbered 8610. To avoid any future confusion over numbers, the Air Force created a call sign that could not be confused with any other: Air Force One. Actually, now it is two identical Boeing

  747s. Air Force One and Air Force Two are identical to one another with only one exception: the tail code on one is 28000; on the other it is 29000. With the exception of that small indication on the tail decal, even the designers at Boeing could not tell them apart. The two planes alternate being designated Air Force One or Two.

  Each airplane has a range of 6,800 miles. Additionally, the Air Force is capable of refueling these planes in midair, meaning, in essence, that the range of the president’s personal airplane is unlimited. The sun may never have set on the British empire, but the emperor of America could keep pace with the sun if he needed or wanted to. The aircraft that are Air Force One and Two also have onboard electronics that are especially treated to protect against being shorted out by an electromagnetic pulse. Each airplane, in addition to the 80 telephones onboard
, also offers highly advanced secure communications equipment that allows the aircraft to function as a mobile Command Center. In total, the two ones are a combination of an ultra-luxury hotel and a super-secret military command post—that can fly.

  Operated by the Presidential Airlift Group, which is part of the White House Military office, each of these truly massive planes is more than 231 feet in length—almost as long as a football field, and double the size of the two presidential planes that were in use just 20 years ago. Those aircraft were also extraordinarily outfitted. While the interior of President Reagan’s one was designed by Nancy Reagan in a style reminiscent of the American Southwest with some Formica and plastic coverings, today’s ones are richly finished in burled woods and glove leather. The two planes are the most costly non-military aircraft ever created.

  We also have to add the cost of training and salaries for the military personnel involved, and the cost of the supporting cargo aircraft that carries the presidential limousine and cars for the Secret Service—not to mention the escort fighter jets that accompany Air Force One, the supporting ground crews, hanger costs, etc., etc., etc. As usual with government spending, nothing’s too good for the office of the president, thanks to the blank checks the taxpayers have unwittingly provided for these purposes.

  To say these planes are well-outfitted is a monumental understatement. They have three floors and 4,000 square feet (more than twice the size of the average American home), all outfitted in state-of-the-art, high-flying luxury. The quarters for the president and first lady are bigger than all but the most spacious of luxury condominium units. There is the presidential office, of course, the first family’s dining room, and a conference room big enough to hold a meeting of the entire executive cabinet, plus many assistants.

  When the president is on board, the specific plane he is on, out of the two identical planes, becomes known as Air Force One. In presidential travels, the second plane follows, in part as a decoy but, more realistically, for quick substitution in case the first should experience difficulty. So when presidents travel, not one but two of these great planes are in the air!

  There is a well-stocked pharmacy aboard, as well as a fully equipped operating room, X-ray facilities and, of course, accommodations for the traveling surgeon and members of his medical staff. Three of those aboard Air Force One are qualified projectionists, ready for those moments when the first family wants to watch movies in the air. In case the president should care to exercise, Air Force One also has a fully-equipped gym.

  In the back of the plane are office areas for senior staff members, and work and rest areas for presidential staff members and members of the press who might be traveling with the president. The Air Force One crews have their hangout and rest quarters in what would be the first class section on a commercial 747. That area also has one entire walk-in closet designated “For comic book storage.” I am serious!

  On a typical commercially flown 747-400, there are three pilots in the cockpit, and five other members make up the cabin crew. Those five are there to serve the needs of several hundred passengers. On Air Force One there are not five but twenty-two crew members and, according to National Geographic’s website—and it bears repeating—five chefs on duty to serve the first family and those the president invites aboard.

  There is not one but two galleys on Air Force One, both of which consist of full-sized kitchens capable of turning out 100 meals for one sitting. There is also refrigerator and storage space to facilitate the serving of up to 900 more meals before landing. With two kitchens and five chefs aboard, the kitchens are manned and ready to serve any request, twenty-four hours a day, while the planes are in use.

  For food preferences, to call this first class service is an understatement because it goes far beyond that. Complete records are kept of the preferences not only of the first family but also of dozens, if not hundreds, of key staff members. Does the Chief of Staff like his filet mignon black on the outside, rare in the middle? Does the first lady prefer trout or cold salmon? The chefs on one will know that President Obama likes his hamburgers medium well, with lettuce and tomato, cheddar cheese and Dijon mustard. Oh, yes, and with plenty of hot french fries! The chefs even have a chalkboard on which they keep track of how every person aboard likes his or her coffee: regular or decaf, black or with milk, cream, or half-and-half, with Sweet’n’Low, honey, sugar, corn syrup or Splenda.

  Any stingy taxpayer who finds this disconcerting can rest assured that when the president is flying on a family trip, or campaigning, he must pay for his food costs as well as those of his family—though this is not so for the food of everyone else onboard. When that gigantic bird is flying on personal business, campaigning for the re-election of the big man or for members of his political party, the first family food costs, as we mentioned earlier, are charged to the president. But what about the food for those five chefs and the twenty-two crew members and anyone else who happens to have been invited aboard, plus the crews and staffs of the backup plane, plus the staffs of the cargo planes carrying the presidential limousine and helicopters for transportation after one reaches the destination city, plus the meals for the extra Secret Service to protect the president away from the White House. What about those added food costs? Yes, indeed, taxpayers do get billed for all those meals.

  A crowd greets Obama as he arrives in Cape Cod in August 2011. The President stopped there briefly before continuing on to Martha’s Vineyard for a ten-day vacation.

  (Photo reprinted with permission from the Department of Defense)

  Unlike other 747s, the twin presidential planes have three entrance stairs so that press and staff travelers can enter without passing through the presidential areas of the plane. It goes without saying that the two planes that alternate as Air Force One are fully outfitted with the world’s most advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground satellite communications, plus the most sophisticated security and defense capabilities. And one more thing— the president might well be the only person in U.S. airspace who is allowed to use his cell phone while in flight if he wants to!

  In addition to the twin planes that constitute Air Force One and the Wannabe, there are a great many other airplanes waiting to serve the first family. When Mrs. Obama or the children fly without the President, they usually travel in one of the many other jumbo jets that are part of the Presidential Fleet.

  First families, unlike ordinary citizens, can set their watches by the scheduled arrivals of their flights. Obviously, it would be embarrassing if Air Force One delivered our chief executive late and kept a diplomatic greeting committee or foreign leader waiting. And it would be an embarrassment to all parties if the president arrived too early to an empty tarmac or an unprepared crowd. Thus Air Force One, in stark contrast to the planes hired by the contenders for the presidency, always takes precedence over the other commercial and private jets at any given airport.

  How can Air Force One guarantee on-time arrival, which is a nearly impossible task for commercial airlines? First, because Air Force One never waits for takeoff clearance, which is a requisite, and frequently the cause of delays, for commercial and private flights.

  When a president decides he is ready to leave his office, he walks 100 yards on the South Lawn to his waiting helicopter, which delivers him to Andrews Air Force Base to board Air Force One.

  Whenever the Number one Man decides it is wheels-up time for the Number one Airplane, all other area aircraft are held on the ground or put in holding patterns while One’s superb pilots get the air to themselves. One can almost hear the crackling of the radios as various air traffic controllers relay urgent orders to one another to delay all other flights!

  Moreover, Air Force One’s pilots always build weather-caused delays and later-than-expected departures into their flight schedules. If out-of-control delays do not occur, Air Force One pilots take the great airplane on a time-eating zigzag route to be sure the big bird puts wheels down at precisely the planned moment—no thought giv
en to the cost, let alone the “carbon footprint” that this practice entails.

  The Re-election Power of One

  Americans feel proud to know that all this floating luxury is at the disposal of our commander in chief. What a great statement of power and authority these airplanes make when they deliver our president to foreign meetings! But what about personal and/or political usage of the planes? In the 365 days of his first year in office, President Obama made 160 trips on Air Force One. Twenty-eight of those trips were for political fundraisers, including seven for campaign rallies. Who pays for the operating costs of Air Force One and the following “Wannabe” as well as the support aircraft carrying the extra security details and the transport of Marine One to take the Chief from the airport to the city, and the transport of the “Beast,” the presidential limousine for transit around town? Who pays for the costs of all that equipment, and the staggering costs of fuel and spare parts and ground support and personnel and hangar and maintenance? You do!

  A member of the 89th Airlift Wing, responsible for One’s maintenance and operation, has pegged the hourly cost of running Air Force One at $181,757; that is $181,757 per hour! Multiplying that by the number of hours round trip to a destination city, it’s no wonder the Air Force Budget carries an “Air Force One” budget item of $200,000,000. One would hope that also covers the costs of the dozens of ground support civilians and military in the Presidential Airlift Group, which plots the courses, provisions and maintenance of the two ones. And then there are the additional costs associated with the advance teams, the military personnel and the costs for their recruitment, training and the provisions for their retirement. Given all these expenses, one could likewise hope that more thought would be given to the usage of this presidential perk when it comes time for the incumbent to run for re-election. Instead, common sense ethics fly out the window when every sitting president takes full advantage of every aspect of the White House and Air Force One to help him get re-elected.