Wednesday 1 June 2011

Europe trips made by the President of the United States - part II

I told you in the previous part some historic visits of U.S. Presidents. Let us now move to visits which took place in our times that we know from television or newspapers or perhaps even those on which you were personally.

International travel by a sitting President or a President elect has increased dramatically since George H. W. Bush (41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993) became president. He visited nearly all countries in Europe, including Poland in 1989 and 1992.



At this point worth mentioning is the military version of the Boeing 747 – the VC-25 (also know as the “Air Force One”) introduced in 1990. As a curiosity I might add that the name of the aircraft varies depending on whether the president is on board. The plane has over 370 square meters of floor space including a bedroom, a shower and enough secure communications to allow the plane to be a reasonable place to run the country. The plane is also accompanied by a heavy lift aircraft that carries the helicopters and the limousines.




At the Presidential inauguration in which there is a change in office, the outgoing President is provided a flight aboard one of the VC-25A aircraft to their home destination. For both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the flight was known as “Special Air Mission 28000”, with 28000 representing the aircraft's tail number. On some occasions, the VC-25s are used to transport the Vice President of the United States, for which service they adopt the callsign “Air Force Two”.

Another president making a lot of trips to Europe was Bill Clinton (42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001) visiting 74 different countries all over the world.



In 1997 he came to Poland speaking at the Royal Castle Square in Warsaw.

President Bush was the most travelled president in history, beating the record set by President Clinton, who in turn beat the record set by President George H. W. Bush.



He also visited 74 different countries like Bill Clinton and together they went to 94 different countries with a combined population of 85% of the world total. He visited Poland three times – in 2001, 2003 and 2007.

Questions:

  1. Which President of the United States did you like the most?
  2. What do you think about the “Air Force One”? Should Poland have a plane like this?
  3. Why are international trips so important for U.S. Presidents?

Sources:

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_VC-25

P.S.: Last but not least – Barack Obama in part III.

Posted by at

15 comments:

  1. kniaz1 June 2011 at 15:17

    I like Bill Clinton. He was a normal, nice guy and very representative president, whom as a normal man had his strengths and weaknesses (Monika Lewinsky;)

    Air Force One sounds perfect but can Polish government can afford it...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Krzysztof Wołk5 June 2011 at 05:49

    1. In my opinion the most honored and worth respect president of United States was of course Abraham Lincoln. First of all he believed in people and done very good work as president.
    2. Recently I have watched 2012 movie and if the plane is as good as it was in the movie, with so solid construction it would be a very good means of transport for our politics when they go on holiday.
    3. I believe that trips are not necessary, but are strongly adviced if you want to make a good business like gaining access to shale gas. You can always bribe the Prime Minister behind the curtains and get what as unavailable in formal way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown5 June 2011 at 10:40

    1) In my opinion the best president was Jimmy Carter. Because after leaving the position of president, he never stopped provide to the public. However, further lectured, was a peace activist and worked for human rights. An interesting fact is that one of the first countries what he has visited was Poland. During his tenure, Polish-American relations were relatively good.
    2) Why not, but whether we can afford? :)
    3) Yes, because they want to control the whole world any more than others, and also they looking for an even wider market for their products, they have a good reason for that - they fear about chine monopoly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. s41375 June 2011 at 11:14

    Actually I don't have any favorite one. But if I have to decide I will choose 1st one - George Washington. Why? Because he was really close to Poland, being specific with two famous Polish activists: Kazimierz Pulawski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko.

    I was never wondering what I'm thinking about Air Force One. That's a piece of armored machine. Probably the best equipped mode of transport all over the world. I wish we would ever got one. Unfortunately it has to be expensive like hell, so we can only dream about.

    Why they are so important? Answer is simple... good business requires face-to-face presence.

    ReplyDelete
  5. asia engel5 June 2011 at 11:17

    1. I'm not sure if I sympathize with any of American presidents. If I must choose one, I would say that Abraham Lincoln was the most significant person who had to cope with the Civil War and he succeeded.

    2. Why not, perhaps Americans will offer us one? ;)Well, I don't know much about the airplanes, but I understand it is a good one.

    3. I think that their trips are more important to visited countries that to themselves. Of course, it is a great chance to create their image and to talk about difficult matters. Also, I think that visiting so many countries they sustain the impression of ruling the whole world.

    ReplyDelete
  6. s64765 June 2011 at 12:55

    The president I remembered the most is John Fitzgerald Kennedy, perhaps due to his tragic death in Dallas, in 1963 (long before I was even born).

    Air Force One is a plane for a president of a superpower and it's used for goals which Poland doesn't follow. Poland, for its president, should have a regular, reliable plane, not necessarily made in Russia.

    The last visit of president Barack Obama was in my opinion more important for Europe than for the president himself.

    ReplyDelete
  7. s45045 June 2011 at 12:59

    I do not like any of the US presidents because I don’t know any of them. So why should I like a man who is a stranger to me? ;)

    Should Poland have its own Air Force One? Yes and no. Yes, because there would be less chance that it would crash or something. No, because it is very very expensive.. Correct me if I’m wrong But I think our president doesn’t need to have such „toy”. Typical passenger plane is all he needs. Maybe with some cool features like satellite phone, rocket l auncher (awesome!) etc ;)

    Why all these trips are so important? The answer is so easy! Money, money, money, money. If you do not know what's going on that's for sure about the money.

    ReplyDelete
  8. TomekP5 June 2011 at 13:05

    I don't have any favorite U.S. President, But I think that Barack Obama is quite interesting one. He seems to be friendly and likeable.
    Of course I thinkt that Poland shhould have a similar plane. Only which plane? Because - from what I know - each plane where on board is U.S. President gets this name….
    3. Maybe he wants to conquer the electorate from this countris?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Michał Opoka5 June 2011 at 13:27

    1) Ronald Reagan was absolutely the best one for me, too bad he couldn't serve more then 2 terms.

    I think US need someone like him to replace Obama.

    2) I think greatest problem with VIP transport we have in Poland are not planes but humans :)

    3) They want to gain popularity within ethnic minorities.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aszys5 June 2011 at 14:02

    I believe that Poland should have a really good aircraft, that there was no more such tragic air accidents, with the participation of representatives of government, which took place in the recent past.
    It all just shows the world how far we are behind other countries.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michał Rapińczuk6 June 2011 at 10:15

    I'm not very keen on American politicians, nor do I have enough knowledge about American history to sympathise with any of them. I didn't like any of the last 2 presidents, that's for sure ;)

    I'm one of the people who think that it's not necessary for Poland to invest in high technology military weapons. Our budget does not allow us to invest our funds in equipment that will never pay off, we should rather think about developing and looking for investments that will pay off in the future. Of course, military is considered to be very important for the sake of national security, not only in terms of war - which is not highly possibly nowadays in Europe - but when a crisis strikes a country.

    ReplyDelete
  12. s4419 Ogonowski Michał9 June 2011 at 09:04

    Which President of the United States did you like the most?
    I do not have a favorite president. Obama seems to be nice but in my opinion is just a pawn of the Congress and he does not have such power like previous presidents.

    What do you think about the "Air Force One"? Should UK have a plane like this? Nah, we have better TU154:) Oops now only one .. Like a AFO:):):)

    Why are international trips so important for U.S. Presidents?
    Probably not for political reasons, in my opinion - "for show", nothing more ...

    ReplyDelete
  13. panKonrad12 June 2011 at 13:04

    1. One man comes to my mind, which stuck my memory of history lessons - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only U.S. president in the history of acting as the office for more than two terms. Creator of the social reform program (including the introduction of unemployment insurance, pensions, minimum wages) and economic. I think he did a lot of good for the U.S.
    2. I think it is "expensive toy" but in my opinion each president should be the most guarded person in the country. Let us remember what happened April 10, 2010.
    My theory assumes that this was not the fault of bad weather, but neglect.
    3. The answer is simple, to show the world that U.S. is the most important player in the political arena.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sebastian Zebrowski s518612 June 2011 at 13:56

    >1. Which President of the United States did you like the > most?

    You didn't specify if I couldn't mention Barack Obama so I answer: Barack Obama. I think that he has the best presence and charisma. I don't agree with his politics ways, due.

    >2. What do you think about the “Air Force One”? Should
    > Poland have a plane like this?

    Nope. Pointless and useless. We should use barrows for last ride of our ex-presidents. ;)

    >3. Why are international trips so important for U.S. >Presidents?

    I really don't know. Probably they want to show who is the boss and check how each country gonna treat them (so they know who is their friend).
    Another thing is that the presidents of USA don't have plenty to do so they travel on the cost of their taxpayers. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. s806324 June 2011 at 13:21

    Unfortunately, politics it's an area that I'm not interested and it's hard for me to answer on your questions. I know President Clinton, Bush and Barack Obama, but I have no idea about their governance and don't know which one was better or worse.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)