JFK+50: Volume 6, No. 2021
TRUMAN SIGNS NATIONAL SECURITY ACT ABOARD AIR FORCE ONEAir Force One (JFK+50) Sixty-nine years ago today, President Harry S Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 on board the Presidential airplane, Sacred Cow*, designated as Air Force One.
The act restructured the armed forces of the United States along with foreign policy and the intelligence community. NSA merged the Departments of War and the Navy under the Department of Defense.
The act also established the National Security Council to coordinate national security policy in the executive branch and created the Central Intelligence Agency.
*Sacred Cow, Douglas VC-54C was the 1st airplane built for the exclusive purpose of transporting the POTUS. Although officially named "The Flying White House," it was called Sacred Cow because of its special status as the presidential aircraft.
The SC was designed for a crew of 7 and accommodated 15 passengers. It was equipped with four engines and had a maximum speed of 300 mph.
The cabin included a conference room & desk with a rectangular bullet-proof window. SC carried FDR to Yalta in 1945 and was equipped with a battery-powered elevator to accommodate his wheel chair. SC was retired in October 1961 and is now housed in the National Museum of the Air Force.
SOURCE
"Douglas VC-54C, 'Sacred Cow,'" National Museum of the United States Air Force, October 1, 2015, www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
Sacred Cow
October 17, 1961
USAF Photo
