William McKinley
In 1899, McKinley was the first president to take a ride in a car, a steam-powered “Locomobile.”
William Howard Taft
In 1909 Taft became the first president to ride in an official presidential limousine. There were four official presidential limos: a White Steamer, a Baker Electric, and two Pierce-Arrows. Taft was an early proponent of no-fossil fuel vehicles.
Warren Harding
Harding was the first president who already knew how to drive an automobile before taking the office.
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge rented his limousines to save money.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential limo was fitted with hand controls so he could continue his love of driving despite his polio.
On December 8, 1941, the day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, president Roosevelt rode to Congress to deliver his declaration of war in the infamous gangster Al Capone’s armor-plated limo. The car was officially owned by the Department of Treasury as a result of Capone’s tax evasion conviction.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower was the first president to have a Plexiglass bubble installed on the roof of his limousine so that he could be seen by crowds even in bad weather.
John F. Kennedy
JFK’s Lincoln Continental was filled with interesting gadgets for the time. It was fitted with removable roof panels that could be configured in various ways for varying occasions, the back seat could be raised more than 10 inches, and the car also sported a two-way radio and a telephone system. This James Bond like car was leased to the White House for $500.
Lyndon Johnson
After the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Johnson had the presidential Lincoln redesigned, and added almost one ton of steel plating and bullet-proof glass.
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