How does the president of the United States travel? It’s complicated. Next Tuesday, the Travel Channel will air an in-depth look at what it’s like to get around as — or with — the president, and Yeas & Nays got a sneak peak.
Former staffers and Secret Service agents provide plenty of good details, like how to drive the president’s customized Cadillac (rumored to sport night vision capability) and how President George W. Bush never went anywhere without a bag of Tex-Mex Chex mix.
Other fun facts: Presidents rarely enter a hotel through the lobby, opting instead for the loading dock. And when President Obama travels, his food is sampled by a Navy officer before he eats it for security reasons.
Bush’s former White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin spilled on all those visits to Crawford Ranch. “The dirty secret was that people who went to the ranch in Crawford really liked going,” he said. “We would come back to the White House and moan and groan about how tough a duty it was because we didn’t want anyone to take our places down there.”
