Inside the Air Force One plane used by 8 presidents, where Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in after JFK's assassination
Eight US presidents flew on this Air Force One plane known as SAM 26000. George Wirt/Shutterstock SAM 26000, a Boeing VC-137C, operated as Air Force One from 1962 to 1998, carrying eight presidents. Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on board, and the plane transported John F. Kennedy's body from Texas. SAM 26000 is housed at the National Museum of the US Air Force, where visitors can walk through it. "If history itself had wings, it would probably be this aircraft," Vice President Al Gore said of the SAM 26000 Air Force One plane upon its retirement in 1998. The first Air Force jet designed and built specifically for US presidents, SAM 26000 (pronounced two six thousand) carried eight presidents between 1962 and 1998 — every leader from President John F. Kennedy to President Bill Clinton. After 13,000 flying hours over 36 years of service, the plane was retired to the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where it remains on display. I visited the museum in Au...