Air Force One Bush M&Ms

The Air Force One M&M’s were first conceived of by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 as a promotional gift to take to the Moscow Summit, where he was to meet with the Soviet Union’s General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev. President Reagan called the Mars candy company and requested they manufacture some gift boxes of red, white and blue M&M’s that could be given away at the summit.

Prior to the M&M’s, the Reagan White House had been well known for stocking jars of Jelly Belly jelly beans at the White House. They were also a popular handout at presidential events.

Mars, Inc., provided the packages of M&M’s with a Presidential seal on one side and an M&M character holding an American flag on the reverse side. The cardboard boxes were similar in size to a large pack of cigarettes. At the summit Nancy Reagan gave them out to Soviet children, and they proved to be very popular.

The Reagan administration promoted an anti-drug campaign, which grew to include a no smoking policy on Air Force One. Past administrations used to hand out packs of presidential cigarettes with matches as souvenirs of the flight onboard the aircraft. President Reagan decided to start handing out presidential M&M’s after the summit. They soon became the official candy of the White House.

During his administration, President George H.W. Bush allowed employees of the White House to gift boxes of M&M’s to members of the public. When President Bill Clinton entered the White House, he added the presidential signature under the Presidential seal on the exterior of the box.

President Barack Obama was not a fan of M&M’s. He was known to discard the M&M’s when he encountered them in bags of trail mix that included the candy-coated chocolate. He still provided boxes of Presidential M&M’s to guests at White House events.

Once, during a meeting in the White House, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy presented Obama with a gift of facsimiles of 500-year-old historic works, and the U.S. President countered with a gift box of the red, white and blue candy treats. The Spanish press was a bit indignant.

Spanish Prime Minister Jacquelyn Martin meeting in the Oval office with President Barack Obama on Jan. 13, 2014. Although there were other issues discussed in the meeting, the Spanish press noted that the Prime Minister had brought some gifts; three facsimiles of works of up to 500 years old, including a letter that Vasco Nunez de Balboa sent to King Fernando El Catolico, a biography of the discoverer and a world map. In return, the Spanish delegation reportedly received a box of Presidential M&M’s chocolates with a Presidential seal and signature on the box. (Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Jan. 13, 2014)