Who was the first president to fly in a helicopter?

a) Franklin D. Roosevelt
b) Harry S Truman
c) Dwight D. Eisenhower
d) Richard M. Nixon

Answer: c) Eisenhower became the first president to ride in a helicopter on July 12, 1957. As part of a test of emergency evacuation in case of nuclear attack, Eisenhower flew to Camp David in the military equivalent of a three-seat Bell Ranger. A humble precursor to modern aircraft, it lacked even such basics as air conditioning and toilet facilities. He had ridden in helicopters previously as commander of NATO.

While the Marine Corps now shoulders the responsibility for all presidential helicopters, they shared the job with the Army until 1967. (When the president flew aboard an Army helicopter, the call sign was Army One.) As a security measure, every time the president now flies in Marine One, two identical helicopters make the trip, one to carry the president and another to serve as a backup and decoy.

Incidentally, Eisenhower also was the first president to fly in a presidential jet, with the first flight of a Boeing 707 designated Air Force One occurring in 1960. The first presidential aircraft was a C-87A Liberator Express, a reconfigured B-24 bomber, during Roosevelt’s tenure. When a different C-87A crashed in 1944, the Secret Service replaced the presidential aircraft with a C-54 Sky Master, specially designed with a phone, sleeping space and retractable elevator for Roosevelt’s wheelchair.

The first president to fly in any sort of airplane was Roosevelt’s fifth cousin, Theodore, during a four-minute flight in 1912.