Is the 80-year-old Biden the only president to have had trouble on the stairs of Air Force One?
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President Joe Biden concluded his three-day European trip with exactly that: a fall down a flight of stairs while boarding Air Force One in Warsaw to return to the United States.
The 80-year-old is no stranger to embarrassing moments on the airplane steps, but he’s also following in the footsteps of several modern-day presidents.
Presidents Barack Obama and Gerald Ford struggled with the stairs of Air Force One, while former President Donald Trump boarded the plane with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
Biden’s latest spill on the stairs, the second of his presidency, comes as there are doubts about whether he will run for re-election, and after Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley proclaimed that political candidates over the age of 75 should undergo screening. “competency tests”.
President Joe Biden briefly fell while climbing the stairs to board Air Force One on Wednesday as he was leaving Warsaw after a three-day trip to kyiv and the Polish capital.
When he turned 80 in November, Biden became the first president in history to celebrate that birthday at the White House.
Biden’s latest tumble followed a spill down the stairs in March 2021, just two months into his term, during a windy day at Joint Base Andrews, and a fall from his bike in June 2022 during a trip to Rehoboth. Beach.
Biden had pedaled to greet a group of onlookers and his foot caught in the clip on his toe, causing him to fall to the side.
He immediately got up after the Secret Service rushed to his aid.
The president also made a quick recovery from falling down the stairs of Air Force One.
The stumbles have added to the narrative that Biden is prone to mistakes.
Despite being a student athlete, Ford also had a reputation for being clumsy.
The most memorable example occurred on June 1, 1975, when the Republican president fell down the slippery stairs of Air Force One as it arrived in Salzburg, Austria.
The late President Gerald Ford is helped by a military aide after he slipped and fell down the stairs while disembarking from Air Force One on June 1, 1975 during a foreign trip to Salzburg, Austria.
President Gerald Ford is helped to his feet after falling down the steps of Air Force One in 1975 on a trip to Austria.
Former Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer recalled another incident, this one from the 1976 election campaign.
He recalled reporting that Ford tripped, missed the door, and then hit his head while trying to get off the back platform of a train in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
There were also several stories about Ford falling while skiing.
decades before, Ford nearly fell overboard while serving as a navigation officer during World War II on the USS Monterey.
A wave had crashed against the deck of the ship. Ford was saved because his foot got caught in a grate, the story goes.
That moment was remembered in a statue of Ford that is on display on the USS Ford, when the ship is not deployed. according to Insider.
If you look closely, you can see that one of the statue’s feet is stuck in a grate.
Former President Barack Obama briefly tripped over the ladder of Air Force One on March 30, 2015 while returning to Washington from a golf trip in Florida.
Former President Donald Trump can be seen with toilet paper attached to his shoe as he boarded Air Force One to Minneapolis in 2018
Toilet paper can be seen stuck to former President Donald Trump’s shoe as he walks toward Marine One leaving New York on November 12, 2019.
Ford’s awkwardness also became a part of his pop culture persona, with Saturday Night Live cast member Chevy Chase using it in his presidential parts of the time.
When he was elected in 2008, President Barack Obama was among the youngest presidents in the nation.
In particular, he turned the White House tennis court into the place where he would play his basketball games with the employees.
Still, the footsteps of Air Force One became a challenge for the Democratic leader.
He tripped over the stairs on March 30, 2015 while returning from a golf trip in Florida.
Former President Donald Trump had no notable falls, but that didn’t take attention away from his toes.
There were at least two cases where it looked like he had toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
In October 2018, he boarded Air Force One bound for Minneapolis and found a white sheet attached to his left shoe.
And then in November 2019, when you left New York, it seems the toilet paper was clogged again.