The Presidential Bus

I just love it when a piece of history comes up for sale. Of course, some pieces are more interesting and valuable than others - but the point of collecting historical artefacts is that they chart some moment of change in the way things are done. Take this Presidential Bus for instance.

According to the owners,

This coach has quite the history. It was originally constructed in 1995 for my wife and me; we intended to use it to go live in Alaska for a while. Well, this did not happen, and one day a good friend suggested that if I was not going to go to Alaska right away, why not use the bus to help Congressman Bill Zeliff campaign for New Hampshire Governor? So I did, and we spent the summer of 1995 driving around New Hampshire, doing parades and other events. Bill lost, but the bus was well received, so I decided to help with Phil Gramm's 1996 run for President.

The bus has been in politics ever since. Governor Bush used the bus as his campaign headquarters from July 1999 through the New Hampshire primary. Throughout this time, George Bush, Sr, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, Jeb Bush, George P. Bush, and other members of the Bush family all rode on the bus. Many others rode on the bus, too: Elizabeth Dole, Judd Gregg, Jack Kemp, and Congressman Charles Bass. After the primary the bus supported the campaigning efforts of various Federal and state candidates, taking them throughout the state of New Hampshire in their bid for elected office. The last political event of the 2000 election the bus attended was President Bush's inaugural parade, and the presidential bus was born.

After the 2000 election the bus rested snuggly in its climate controlled garage until the start of the 2002 political season. Every candidate supported in 2002 won political office: Senator John Sununu, Representative Charles Bass, Representative Jeb Bradley, and Governor Craig Benson.

In 2004 the bus again campaigned for President Bush, and in 2006 it also campaigned throughout New Hampshire. Many well-known politicians, including Senator John McCain, campaign on the bus during this time.

Rudy Giuliani used the bus in 2007 and 2008 as his New Hampshire mobile campaign headquarters.

Throughout all of this the bus has been meticulously maintained. All the maintenance was done in house by me or under my immediate supervision. I just recently retired and sold my trucking business, so now its time to sell this great bus.

What an amazing opportunity to own a well documented piece of presidential and electoral history - it could be used as a miniature tourist attraction in its own right.