As entertaining a notion that a President of the United States even owned an Amphicar is, President Lyndon B. Johnson was a certified practical joker when it came to automobiles that doubled as boats. What follows is a tale from then Special Assistant to the President Joseph A. Califano, Jr.:
The President, with Vicky McCammon in the seat alongside him and me in the back,was now driving around in a small blue car with the top down. We reached a steep incline at the edge of the lake and the car started rolling rapidly toward the water. The President shouted, ‘The brakes don’t work! The brakes won’t hold! We’re going in! We’re going under!’ The car splashed into the water. I started to get out. Just then the car leveled and I realized we were in a Amphicar. The President laughed. As we putted along the lake then (and throughout the evening), he teased me. ‘Vicky, did you see what Joe did? He didn’t give a damn about his President. He just wanted to save his own skin and get out of the car.’ Then he’d roar.
President Johnson also had a fleet of Lincoln division products, a 1915-type 12 American La France fire truck, a Fiat Jolly Ghia, assorted Cushman golf and utility carts, and more famously – a donkey cart powered by Presidential donkeys Soup and Noodles. You know – for the kids. The website for the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park has more on the fleet.