HOWIE FRANKLIN - AIR FORCE ONE

Howie Franklin spoke today at our local Town Hall Series.

Mr. Franklin is the former Chief Steward, Air Force One.

His presentation was priceless.
He held the audience in his hand.
I wish I could remember everything he said.

He enlightened us regarding his eighteen years serving Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton [in this article, upper case C is intentional] aboard this amazing symbol (the twin 747s) of one of the two greatest nations on earth.

He had praise for all five Chief Executives, more for some, less for others.

He had affection for all, again, more for some, less for others.

He criticized the msm. No surprise there.

Some recollections of the presentation:

The first thing most first-time flyers on AF1 want to do is to make a phone call, for the operator makes the call and announces to the recipient of the call “This is Air Force One calling” [or words to that effect].

Boeing produced the two 747s considerably over cost, and did NOT bill the Government for the overage. This was not widely reported in the press.

Press and passengers are billed by the Government for seats and food whilst on board. The press travels at coach rates and food is served family style.

The Air Force is responsible for the President,s air travel; the Navy is responsible for the White House; the Marines are responsible for Helicopter 1; and the Army is responsible for the President’s land travel.

[I believe the Marines are responsible for Camp David].

I cannot do justice to his remarks about each of the five Presidents he served. I took no notes.

But re President Reagan, we were struck by a couple of his comments:

President Reagan had three passions:

His country
His wife
Riding horses
And he was a source of energy and inspiration for all who were around him.
And he was in private what he was in public, a dedicated, caring, informed, and inspirational leader.

I note that with the passage of time and the release of more and more info on this Chief Executive, the ignorance of his critics is ever more clearly exposed.

Regarding the other Presidents, as I said, I took no notes, but impressions linger:

Ford was a no-nonsense Chief who was determined to do his duty.
Carter was a teacher and an engineer, very, very unlike his Mom.
The Bush family is close-knit, caring, and Barbara is a very important member.
Clinton is a nice guy who really, really likes women.

And the press. Mr. Franklin relates that helen thomas interviewed him for hours and only got half of her facts right for a story she was writing. And she even liked him.
What if she had not liked him?

I will record more stuff if I remember. It was a great morning.