Flight of Three Presidents

Old animosities fall away on a historic mission of mourning

There had been nothing quite like it in American history: three former Presidents sharing the cabin of an Air Force jet as they flew to the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Cairo. From talks with many of the dignitaries aboard the plane, TIME'S Washington Contributing Editor Hugh Sidey put together the following account of their extraordinary mission of mourning.

By mid-afternoon on the day of Sadat's assassination, White House aides had decided that Ronald Reagan could not risk attending the services. The hazard to Vice President George Bush might be just as grave. Out of necessity came a unique act of national unity and historical significance: the launching of the plane of Presidents toward Cairo.

Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon had already signaled the White House that they wanted to attend the funeral. Reagan decided to make it a full house. White House staffers tracked down Gerald Ford in New York, and he eagerly signed on. Then the White House and State Department began the frantic and difficult job of selecting the rest of the official party and assigning the 52 seats for guests and crew on board SAM (for Special Air Missions) 26000. (The code name Air Force One is reserved to any Air Force plane with the incumbent President aboard.) The aircraft was the same Boeing 707 on which Lyndon Johnson was sworn in, and which carried the body of John Kennedy from Dallas to Washington, D.C. Pleas for space came in by the dozens, including one from

Plains, Ga., for Rosalynn Carter. Wives had initially not been invited, but Rosalynn felt so strongly about Sadat that the Carters said they would travel to Cairo on their own if there was no space for her. A seat for Rosalynn was set aside. There was also one for 14-year-old Sam Brown, of Liberty, S.C., who had written a touching letter to Sadat.

The Air Force dispatched two Jet-Stars and a C-9 transport to gather the Presidents. Joe Canzeri, the White House's wizard on transportation arrangements, began a frantic 48 hours of orchestration. Secretary of State Alexander Haig was official leader of the party, so he got the "Presidential Suite" on board 26000 ("The diplomatic way out," joked Haig). Irony flashed through the minds of the arrangers. Two cabins behind Haig would ride Nixon and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, for whom Haig had worked as a lesser aide. Such is the span of fleeting power.

First behind Haig's suite came the lounge assigned to staff. The Presidents came next in a cabin with two tables. Nixon and Ford were placed side by side facing Kissinger and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. On the other side of the aisle were the Carters and Mr. and Mrs. Ashraf Ghorbal. Egypt's wise Ambassador to the U.S. was heading home on the most somber journey he had ever undertaken. In other seats were military and diplomatic dignitaries, Senators and Congressmen and a three-man press pool.

They came together for their flight late Thursday afternoon. Canzeri made certain that the Presidents landed in Washington at precisely the same time, and shared a helicopter to the White House for Reagan's eloquent farewell.

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