An Elevator for the First Presidential Plane

Nicknamed the “Sacred Cow,” the Douglas VC-54C Skymaster was the first purpose-built presidential aircraft. With the safety and comfort of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in mind, a C-54 Skymaster was converted by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1944 for the commander-in-chief’s exclusive use. Roosevelt, the first president to fly in an aircraft while in office, used a wheelchair due to partial paralysis from polio. A retractable battery-powered elevator was mounted at the rear of the plane, giving the president an easy way to board that was both dignified and practical. Without the elevator, the president would have needed to be carried up the stairs by aides. The aircraft flew President Roosevelt only once — to the Yalta Conference in February 1945 — before his untimely death in April 1945.

President Harry S. Truman used the aircraft for slightly more than two years of his administration. He signed the National Security Act of 1947 while on board the Sacred Cow, making the aircraft the birthplace of the U.S. Air Force. That year, President Truman replaced the VC-54C with a modified C-118 Liftmaster. The Sacred Cow was used for transport duties after it left presidential service and was officially retired in October 1961. In 1983, the aircraft was transported to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. After 10 years and more than 34,000 h of painstaking restoration work by staff, the aircraft was placed on display. Visitors can walk through the Sacred Cow, which appears as it did when first used by President Roosevelt.