On October 21, 2005, President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan participated in the opening of the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The ceremony marked a new public role for SAM 27000, the presidential Boeing 707 that served seven U.S. presidents, from Richard Nixon through George W. Bush, between 1973 and 2001.
The aircraft had a particularly close connection to Ronald Reagan, who used it more than any other president. In his remarks at the opening, Bush recalled that bringing the plane to the library had been Reagan’s dream. Its preservation gave visitors an opportunity to step aboard an aircraft that had carried presidents through decades of American political and diplomatic history.
The pavilion placed the aircraft within a broader account of presidential travel. Visitors could walk through its interior and explore exhibits connecting Reagan’s overseas journeys with his face-to-face diplomacy on economic relations, strategic affairs, and arms control. Displays of presidential transportation and Secret Service protection helped explain the practical demands of moving and safeguarding a president.
With Nancy Reagan joining President and Mrs. Bush for the opening, the occasion connected a sitting administration with the legacy of an earlier presidency. The aircraft’s new home preserved more than a familiar symbol: it offered the public a closer view of the working environment that accompanied presidents around the world.
Photo Caption:
The Flying White House — Air Force One at Simi Valley
President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan attend the opening of the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on October 21, 2005. The pavilion houses SAM 27000, the presidential Boeing 707 that served seven U.S. presidents from 1973 to 2001.
