Boeing VC-25 it would have appeared when Reagan was president; President and Nancy Reagan's Air Force One jackets were placed on the chairs to "make them feel at home". A specially designed hydraulic lifter (similar to the type used by airline catering) with the presidential seal affixed to the sides lifts the casket up to the portside aft door to enter the VC-25A. The tradition of placing the caskets in the passenger cabin dates back to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, when the crew did not want the president's body placed in the cargo hold, and again during the state funeral
Barack Obama: Der schwarze Kennedy Steffen Hallaschka, a moderator for Germany's NDR TV, said: "Germans in the '60s projected a lot of hope and fantasies on Kennedy. This is what they are doing with Obama." "Barack Obama – Der schwarze Kennedy" has been credited with helping to inspire interest in and support for Obama among people in Germany, with "der schwarze Kennedy" becoming a popular expression. Marschall, however, has pointed out in some interviews that Obama’s Democratic Party primary rival Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are also popular in Germany and in the rest of Europe. Barack Obama: Der schwarze Kennedy