When the President of the United States has to get somewhere, it should come as no surprise that he doesn’t hop on a bicycle or drive himself. POTUS has a whole transportation system not just at his disposal, but for his safety. And with good reason: of the four presidents who were assassinated in office, two (Garfield and Kennedy) were killed while in transit.
What that means, in essence, is that the President is most vulnerable while on the move. So the Secret Service (not to mention the Marines and Air Force) have an elaborate and extensive system in place for moving their commander in chief from one location to another.
Parts of that system we’re already somewhat familiar with: the limousine known as Cadillac One (or “The Beast”), the jumbo jet referred to as Air Force One, and the helicopter that goes by the call sign Marine One. But those are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
As you’ll see from the video below, there’s a staggering array of vehicles employed when POTUS needs to get from Point A to Point B. And operating those vehicles (let alone acquiring and outfitting them in the first place) comes at a huge expense to the taxpayer.
In fact the video asserts that the White House spends $350 million each year – or about a quarter of its annual budget – on the president’s transport. Just one trip costs an estimated $2,614 for each and every minute of transporting the leader of the free world. Scope out the rundown in the video below.