The President's Ride

January 24, 2025Newsletter Archives

In a 1919 parade to celebrate the end of The Great War – what we now call World War I – President Woodrow Wilson rode in an open-air Series 53 1916 Cadillac limousine, sporting a nifty top hat. That was the start of a long and ongoing connection between Cadillac and the American Presidency, one which continues to this day.

President Donald Trump skipped the headgear this week when he was sworn in as the country’s 47th Commander in Chief, but he did spend some time riding in “The Beast,” a nickname for the armor-plated vehicle used to transport POTUS around town.

Cars from other manufacturers have served the White House occupant in some years past; the first President to ride in a motor car was William McKinley, who reportedly rode in a Stanley Motor Carriage steam car on July 13, 1901. But the Cadillac limo remains an iconic tool for Presidential transportation, one that provides both luxury and security.

The term “The Beast” was first used in 2001, in reference to the limo used by President George W. Bush. Unlike its predecessors, this one was custom-built, designed and engineered by a research and development team at General Motors. GM designed the vehicle to the exacting standards of the U.S. Secret Service, while maintaining signature design cues from the Cadillac DeVille.

That followed a long line of Cadillac-flavored Presidential limos, including a pair of convertibles, dubbed the “Queen Mary” and “Queen Elizabeth,” which served Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower. President Ronald Reagan was squired around in a Fleetwood limo; for President Bill Clinton, it was a Fleetwood Brougham.

A re-engineered version of the Beast, code-named “Cadillac One,” and featuring design cues from the Cadillac DTS, debuted in 2009 to transport President Obama. The current version, modeled after the Cadillac CT6, debuted in 2018 during a trip by President Trump to New York City. Last week, he was back in the Beast. 

– Eric J. Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News