Presidential Firsts

Andrew Jackson was the first President to ride a train while in office.

Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to ride in an automobile.

Woodrow Wilson was the first President to visit Europe.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1943, was the first President to fly in an airplane. However, Teddy Roosevelt flew in a Wright Brothers bi-plane in 1910 a year after he left office.

I read two separate articles today that started me to thinking about when the first sitting president would visit Space, which led me to wonder when the first former President would. The first was about NASA pitching an extension of the Shuttle Program and the second was was about how the soon to be former President Bush wasn't sure what he was going to be doing with his time after he left office.

I nominate President George W. Bush to be the first former president to venture outside the atmosphere. Since many of NASA's facilities are located in Texas, and the Kennedy Space Center is located in Florida which was governed by his brother Jeb I think this would be a great political move. Even though he is 62, he is would not be the oldest man to go aloft and he is in excellent shape so the rigors of training for space flight should not be too strenuous. Additionally as a former fighter pilot, I imagine he would need less conditioning for flight.

I know someday, space travel will be common. Common enough for the President to hop on a ship and visit the Moon or Mars or an orbiting space station. I hope the day comes soon enough that I will be able to see it. I think sending a former president on a mission can help advance that day.