Why a mysterious black briefcase follows the US president everywhere

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May 19, 2017 8:23 PM

Some aides chased after Bill Clinton while he jogged around the White House — all the while lugging the 45-pound briefcase.

A retired "Football" displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

On President Donald Trump's first foreign trip, on which he will travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy, and Brussels, the "nuclear football" will follow him.

The so-called nuclear football is a black leather briefcase that contains top-secret items capable of allowing the US president to authorize a nuclear strike while away from fixed command centers, such as the Situation Room.

According to Bill Gulley, a former director of the White House Military Office, the ubiquitous football does not contain a doomsday red-button keypad, but rather four items:

Sometimes an antenna can be seen poking out of the briefcase, which suggests that there may be communications equipment inside.

Smithsonian Magazine

The military aides selected to carry the briefcase are trained to administer the president for a nuclear attack in minutes.

"You're always kind of on edge," recalls then Air Force Major Robert Patterson, who toted the football for President Bill Clinton.

Associated Press

The ubiquitous football is always in the same airplane, helicopter, car, and elevator alongside the president. When the president is at home, the football is stored in a secure location inside the White House, the AP reported.

The football first appeared during the Kennedy administration, shortly after the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

It became immediately clear to top national-security officers that the president needed unlimited access to nuclear war plans after he reportedly posed the following questions during a National Security Council meeting:

Amanda Macias contributed to an earlier version of this post.

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