Air Force One for a Party? In a Word: No

The club lady in Illinois never knew what a flap she caused when she wrote the President of the United States asking to use Air Force One as a party room for the “spectacular event” she had to plan.

“Frankly, we can’t think of anything which would be more thrilling,” she wrote to Richard Nixon, who was then President. “You can land on our property, seven secluded acres.”

The letter, which has rested all these years in a file folder, was only one document out of 400,000 that were opened to public view for the first time Tuesday by the National Archives. But while hundreds of people begged for a ride on the presidential plane, it was the only one that asked to use it for something other than transportation.

Her answer came directly from Ralph D. Albertazzie, an Air Force colonel, who was the President’s pilot.

“Landing Air Force One on seven acres of ground would certainly be a spectacular event in itself!” Albertazzie wrote. “I can only say for reasons far too numerous to enumerate: No.”

According to the records, that didn’t sit too well with Gen. James D. Hughes, who was Nixon’s military aide. In a note, he chewed out the colonel for making light of “a sincere effort on the part of the writer to score a million-in-one shot for her club.” A chastened Albertazzie replied, “I’ve goofed,” and a White House functionary wrapped up the whole thing with a note, “for obvious reasons, please keep this in your restricted file.”