On a recent trip to the Secret Service headquarters, New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer was told Ronald Reagan carried a gun in his briefcase while president.
"Whatever you think of Reagan, you have to admit, he had a black belt in badassery," Meltzer said in a column for the New York Daily News Saturday. The author said Reagan carried a .38 caliber handgun. The Republican icon was even said to have carried his gun on Air Force One.
The revelation inspired Meltzer to ask what other presidents carried with them. He said George H.W. Bush carried only a driver's license, Bill Clinton carried "a billfold with cash and credit cards, along with pictures of Chelsea and Hillary, and also a small prayer," and George W. Bush carried the NYPD badge of 9/11 hero George Howard.
Barack Obama reportedly carries "knickknacks."