-- to follow him as he made peace. he trusted them too much. >> sunday night on c-span's q and day. each week, american artifacts takes you to museums and historic places to learn about american history. next, we tour the presidential vehicles collection at the henry ford museum in dearborn, michigan. transportation curator matt anderson shows of cars used by presidents truman, eisenhower, carter, and reagan, and the lincoln continental that john f. kennedy was writing and when he was assassinated. >> my name is matt anderson. i'm curator of transportation. we are here inside henry ford museum of american innovation. we are inside the henry ford museum of american innovation. just outside our driving america exhibit, we look at the history of the united -- of the automobile in the united states. we are standing in front of the series of presidential limousines which show presidential transportation over the last 117 years or so.

behind me is the 1902 carriage used by theodore roosevelt. by the time of roosevelt's administration, it is a common occurrence to see cars moving on public streets. roosevelt, interestingly enough, for all the reputation he has as a forward-looking progressive, really never cared much for automobiles. he wanted to remain in horse-drawn vehicles. i think partly he's out there is a formality involved with horse-drawn transportation appropriate to begin to see -- appropriate to the agency -- appropriate to the dignity of the office. he remained in that for his primary transportation when moving around washington, d.c. vehicles like this would have been fairly common. ofhave a vision in our heads

so many western movies that everybody had a carriage. not so much the case. certainly in the city streetcars are available at that time. rural areas, maybe a general-purpose carriage. you do see these used firm personal transportation. certainly he would be of use these as roosevelt fifth. next we are going to look at a belongs to another roosevelt. franklin roosevelt. teddy roosevelt preferred a horse-drawn vehicle.

william howard taft had motorized the white house. , gasolineelectric car car, and steam powered car. now is behind us right the lincoln model k. car modify for presidential use. this car was not armored at all. nor was it modified to be more luxurious. instead it was modified for practical purposes. a lot of people were getting in and out of the car. this vehicle is most often associated with franklin roosevelt. this comes partly from

roosevelt's preference to ride with the top down. this car was in fact modified even more after pearl harbor was attacked in 1941. in 1942 it went back to detroit where lincoln was able to add some armor to the vehicle, so there is some fleeting behind the doors. it was a convertible so still a weak spot. an important turning point in presidential transportation. they were starting to fade away and fall from popularity. there is a lit sign that says police, do not pass. carou come up behind this

for some reason, you should not pass it to you the president should always be out in front of the group. there are some graph handles on the fact and five. a couple of platforms they are built into the rear bumper to protect the president and his passengers. presidential motorcades could still be fairly modest. a few police cars would escort it. now the greatest honor and greatest status symbol would be with then the car president himself. important dignitaries that roosevelt was trying to woo, perhaps members of congress would ride in the car. there are also some modifications, a couple of cabinet built in the front seat there. they can use to store weapons areas -- weapons.

several things you would not see in a typical heart a siren, red light. with that we can look at another car after world war ii used by roosevelt successors. we looking at a lincoln cosmopolitan used by president harry truman and john f. kennedy for a short period. it is most often associated with president dwight d eisenhower. it did not have this plexiglass top. that is credited to eisenhower himself. it is not armored. no part of the car is armored. thought to be a vital

concern. it does provide protection from weather. this section can be taken apart and all those panels can be neatly stacked into the trunk. a couple of handrails on the back. that would allow eisenhower courtroom or -- eisenhower courtroom and. -- eisenhower or truman -- the problems only a president may have this is a standard length is the and holding up to the wear and tear people getting in and out. on there platforms built fact for secret service agents and flashlight spotlight. still fairly modest.

if served the president very well to facilitate the administration. it's a fairly modest and grows a little bit. primarily there was one main parade car for the president. would be used in a motorcade. it may be taken with him when he's traveling. they start to move toward cargo planes in various places by the time eisenhower zen. -- eisenhower is in. they make at the local lincoln agent. he provides a new car that looks fairly decent. the state cars were used for special purposes. because there was a lot of difficulty and transporting it. presidents wouldn't be driving themselves in official capacities.

cc theointless farsighted opportunity to the public to feel like they're getting close to the president. the president did enjoy driving on their own. more often at their private homes. modelin roosevelt had a eight. it allowed him to drive with him controls once he didn't have use of his legs. president lyndon johnson was thought of going down to his ranch. he had one of those cars that turned into a vote. the presidents to drive around but not an unofficial capacity. the vehicle behind me is undoubtedly the most famous presidential vehicle. arguably the best known presidential limousine of any sort. this is the lincoln continental used by president kennedy. it is in fact the car in which

he was writing when he was assassinated in 1963. the car looks very different when can the road it. we see those pictures of kennedy and think of it as being the flu. if it not have this roof. it was a convertible. it did not have any armor. this was after world war ii. we did not there could be daft risk of danger that could be that risk of danger. just after president eisenhower signed legislation that would create the interstate highway system. business,raveling for for work, going by car and to some extent by airplane. lincoln -- this lincoln was a perfect fit for president kennedy. cars likebout large cap blacks. by 1958 and 1959, it got it fit

obsessive. the chrome is now very restrained, very understated. the car is very clean and elegant looking. it was a perfect president kennedy, because we think of him as being very modern and forward-looking. the two made a perfect match. of course everything about the car changed when the president was assassinated. there had been a roof before the vehicle was a convertible. crack --lic that would fill it protect from weather. it would not protect from any kind of weapon. thickr was a convertible cash convertible configuration that they in dallas. the car was immediately sent back to the white house where the fbi and secret service did a thorough investigation,

documented with a needed for evidentiary purposes. the car was sent back to its modifiers in cincinnati to be completely rebuilt as an armored vehicle. car was put this back into service after that. they would assume it was destroyed or locked away in a warehouse somewhere. the simple fact is the president needed to have a vehicle. it simply wasn't time to go back to the drawing board and build something from scratch. the most expeditious thing to do was rebuild this car. they thoroughly rebuilt it, strict the car down to its bare frame. titanium armor framing behind the doors. there was a special filter foot into the trunk there. if there was a gas attack don't filter in. there was this large ref around windshield, which was the largest piece of bulletproof last that had ever been made.

these cars always have these tricky dual missions. they have to protect the president would have to make him as visible as possible. the car's black infant of that midnight blue we think of when we got president kennedy. that was done at the insistence of president johnson. he was in the motorcade in dallas that day. he was always very uncomfortable writing in this car for obvious reasons. one thing he insisted was that the car be painted black. he thought the blue would be to associated with the tragedy. we notice there is a that originally was in there. theas put there at insistence of presidents nixon, who wanted to be visible. he wanted the president to get armored bubble. this put a strain between the president and his detectors. the president wants to be seen.

they thrive on the interaction with the public. and the president is hermetically sealed. another issue that i don't think they ever quite got right with all that black, it got very hot in that car. the original air-conditioning auld be sufficient to keep car of the size cool. they added a second theconditioning units in trunk. this car was used all the way into 1977. it is no longer the primary presidential hope. but if the primary vehicle wasn't available, it's remarkable to think it could be used for that long. these cars at this time were not

purchased outright by the white house. they didn't have the budget at that time. they were leased by a nominal sum. and it was a good deal for the white house. have a 15they would year service life at most. the problem is at a certain point they get too dated. this car looks very modern in 1961. ff what it had to be retired in the mid-1970's. there was a new presidential vehicle, which was the primary vehicle. that's the one look at him. looking at the last of our series of presidential vehicles, this is a 1972 lincoln continental built for president used by every

subsequent president thought through george h.w. bush. this represents the final step of the evolution in transportation. we moved up through franklin roosevelt and john f. kennedy's cars,n as transitional the point where they are billed as an armored. car feels from the ground up as an armored vehicle designed from the get go to get maximum protection for the president. you have bulletproof glass, you have runflat tires. the vehicle can still drive away. presidentuilt for nixon and became the primary car after 1972. president reagan was a poor shot in 1981. it was more dangerous than we

realized at the time. he made the speech to that of theassessed the union washington hilton theater at the president was getting into the car, he was actually hits not by a bullet that ricocheted off of the wall death off of one of the armored panels. a perfect shot. the ricochet went through the gap between the door and the moved a fraction of an inch one way or another he may not have been hit at all. used.r continues to be they didn't live very rough live speed they were being bumped and put him all the time. there are sometimes getting hit by the page or rocks to part of the american way of life.

speak our minds and protests in these cars live on the front lines. secret service had a garage near the white house would accurately paint them, watch them. keep them in top condition. afterr since they did age a point. if you look at photos you will see the front-end looks quite different. they changed the front-end. whenever they could they would do that keep the car stretched. this one looked too dated five 1990's. some are associated with the passengers they carried with them in these cars. any world leader or dignitary you can think of from the middle part of the 20th century would have ridden in one of these cars. signs --'s sun sunshine special, he had .hurchill in that car

girls dissolve road in the car. of queen elizabeth. and a number of dignitaries would be in the most recent 12. being in the presidential cars revealed ferc and kind of point of pride for folks. anyone from the have fixed the layers to the congress of the president is trying to woo in order to get legislation passed. just as air force one is treated as a perk today. this is the most recent car we have in our selection filter 1972. cars aren't really going to be used much anymore. just onenot building primary car, hatfield in several copies.

parlay the technology that really keeping the technology from falling into the wrong hand and testing the effectiveness against different and more modern weapons. its rear to see them in museums anymore and we may not get anymore either. got these vehicles from the lincoln motor company. and when the cars became too andd with the artifacts turn around and give them to a firefighter by cadillac. they aren't going to go back to cadillac to general motors. they remain the property of the government as they see fit. visitors have a lot of questions about these cars. the question is is this really the kennedy car? it's hard to believe it would be put back into service and used after the assassination.

it was faster to rebuild that is sent to start from scratch. the reagan car has what looks like a spoiler in the back. that the actually a hand rail. part from thee trunk, it makes a handrail for them to hold onto. people are surprised that the technology in these cars. be rockete there must launchers behind the headlights or homing devices. the technology is pretty basic. there may be a pa system. there may be a radiotelephone. beyond that these were really transportation vehicles design to get the president where he was going.

the technology was really basic. i think of the kennedy cars being a favorite of mine. it represents him to worlds of presidential transport. a slightly larger engines if beyond that it's a car you could buy from any dealer. after the lesson nation is completely rebuilt into -- with filters for gas tax. car that represents this changing moment where you have to start thinking about section. is surprising it took that long and that tragically cap realization happened. it seems to be we thought these were distractions and nobody could harm the president. times evenen several before the kennedy's assassination. i also do like some sign special.

-- like sunshine special. he loved that car. he enjoyed writing it. he really thrived up the interaction with the crowd. they love him and they really did get a lot of energy out of that. our presidential limousines are a permanent exhibit here. all of them with the exception onthe kennedy car have been the floor to say we have gotten them and remain on the floor. sensitivity off the tragedy, it has been on displaces the late 1970's. first thingr the people see. they are what people are looking for they want to see him

pharaoh's closing with him and a few years ago when we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the assassination we moved the kennedy car up to the front here that was one of the most remarkable days in my professional career. seeing people lined up out the door and waiting how are more to spend a few minutes with that car. itey left flowers, cards, shows how these are physically and tangibly linked to our own memories. >> you can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. c-span was created as a public service by america's cable

and ision companies brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. tv, tomamerican history brokaw perceives the great american's award from the smithsonian's national museum of american history. he talks with david rubenstein about reporting historical events, including water kate and as well as his, writing on world war ii and the greatest generation. this is just over an hour. -- [applause] >> happy new year and we are so appreciative you have come tonight and we welcome you to your national museum of american history. thank you so much for joining us.