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On This Day: President Eisenhower becomes first world leader to fly in helicopter
JULY 12, 1957: American President Dwight D Eisenhower became the first world leader to ride in a helicopter on this day in 1957.
The former top general used a Bell UH-13-J Sioux to fly from the White House to the presidential retreat at Camp David and to his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
This decade-old – but still experimental – technology was quicker than a car and perfect for short-hop trips when he couldn’t use personal plane, Air Force One.
And, as the Cold War heated up, the helicopter later became the chief form of evacuation from the White House in the event of a nuclear attack
A News of the Day newsreel shows Eisenhower jumping in to a Bell UH-13-J Sioux
On the South Lawn of the White House during a civil defence alert later in 1957.
All heads of state since Eisenhower have used the Sikorsky VH-3D, otherwise known as a Sea King, for travel.
Initially, the call sign name for the president’s helicopter was known either as Marine One or Army One depending on whether an Marine or soldier was piloting it.
Perhaps its most famous public moment was when Richard Nixon left the White House in Marine One after resigning over the Watergate Scandal in 1974.
Two years later, the U.S. Marine Corps was given sole responsibility for operating the president’s helicopter.
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At the same time, the Vice President’s one was given the call sign Marine Two and his plane was titled Aircraft Two.
Marine One and a second decoy helicopter now accompany Air Force One on all presidential trips.
Currently there are 19 helicopters, including Sea Kings and the UH-60 Blackhawk available for Barack Obama’s use.
Eisenhower, a Republican, was one of the greatest promoters of technological development.
During his time in the U.S. Army, when he served as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and devised the D-Day landings, he was a major proponent of the tank.
And under his president, the U.S. built the then world’s longest motorway network called that Interstate Highway System, which currently stretches to 76,000 miles.
In 1955, he also commissioned the world’s first nuclear-powered ship, the NS Savannah, which was launched in 1962.
Furthermore, he ordered more of his country’s vast economic resources to be devoted to the Space Race after the Soviet Union launched the first satellite in 1957.
He feared that the rocket that launched Sputnik might be capable of delivering nuclear weapons thousands of miles.
The fact that the satellite flew over the U.S. seven times a day caused further unease and the country began a battle to close the technological gap with its communist rival.
The U.S. – boosted by funding that included massive grants to science teaching - ultimately won the Space Race by landing men on the moon in 1969.
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At the same, Eisenhower massively advanced his country’s nuclear weapons building and testing.
Yet in his farewell address, he warned of the dangers of a ‘military industrial complex’ with private firms reliant on massive defence spending by the government.
