Air Force One becomes the "Spirit of '76"

In December 1972, Boeing delivered a 707 aircraft to the government, specially outfitted to serve President Nixon. It was the fifth and last 707 to enter service for the country to be used as Air Force One. This aircraft was SAM-27000, replacing the relatively aging SAM-26000 that had been delivered 10 years earlier in October 1962. Aircraft carry the call signs "Special Air Mission" unless the president is aboard. Then the call sign changes to "Air Force One."

In the summer of 1971 Nixon had the words "Spirit of '76" stenciled near the nose of SAM-26000 to honor the country's upcoming 200th Anniversary to occur during the last year of his anticipated second term. This aircraft took Nixon on his historic trip to China in February 1972. Then, when SAM-27000 was delivered, it too was named "Spirit of '76." Both aircraft donned "Spirit of '76" until President Carter had them removed. In the 1990s, the 707s were phased out as President Bush welcomed the first 747s, ushering in a more modern history of presidential travel.


SAM-26000 is probably the more notable of the aircraft. It is the jet President Kennedy took to Dallas on November 22, 1963, and the same aircraft that would take his body back to Washington after he was assassinated and where Vice President Johnson took the oath of office before leaving Dallas and becoming president. It also brought Nixon's body back to Yorba Linda for burial in 1994.

SAM-26000 was built purposefully for presidential travel and replaced the earlier 707s, SAM-86790, SAM-86971, and SAM-86972. These were used as backup presidential travel from 1962 to 1972, when SAM-27000 went into service. Then, SAM-26000 became the back-up aircraft, though the earlier ones were used from time to time as a back-up.

Here's a guide to the aircraft and where you can see Air Force One, including the two "Spirit of 76s":

SAM-86970: delivered 1958, Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, Wash.
SAM-86971: delivered 1959, Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Ariz.
SAM-86792: delivered 1959, scrapped in 1994
SAM-26000: delivered 1962, National Museum of the U.S.A.F., Wright-Patterson AFB, Dyon, Ohio
SAM-27000: delivered 1972, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, Calif.