Here are the names of the 6 new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers that are poised to lead the US Navy until 2100

The Navy has a tradition of naming its nuclear-powered supercarriers after US presidents, though there are some ship names that deviate from the trend.

President Joe Biden announced Monday that two future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers would be named after former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

“Each knows firsthand the weight of the responsibilities that come with being Commander-in-Chief,” Biden said in the White House announcement. “And both know well our duty to support the families and loved ones who wait and worry for the safe return of their servicemember.”

The US Navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, said the future Ford-class carriers “will serve as lasting tributes to each leader’s legacy in service of the United States.”

The newly named flattops follow the sea service’s tradition of naming the nuclear-powered carriers after US presidents. The trend has many exceptions, including the first-in-class USS Nimitz, the USS Carl Vinson, the USS John C. Stennis, and the future Ford-class ships USS Doris Miller and USS Enterprise.

Here are the names of the first six supercarriers in the Ford class, poised to become the backbone of America’s naval power for the rest of the 21st Century.

USS Gerald R. Ford

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is underway on its own power for the first time.

The first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford is named after the 38th US president who took office after President Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate Scandal.

Ford granted Nixon a controversial pardon, saying at the time that it was in the country’s best interest to put an end to the “American tragedy in which we all — all have played a part.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, completed its first full deployment last January, which the Pentagon extended in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.

The Ford and the other warships in its strike group served in part as a deterrence message for its 239-day deployment to the Mediterranean in 2023.

USS John F. Kennedy

A photo illustration of the second-in-class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy.

The second-in-class USS John F. Kennedy was named after the 35th US president and shares its name with the last conventional aircraft carrier built for the Navy before the introduction of the nuclear-powered Nimitz class.

The future carrier was initially set to deliver in June 2024 but was delayed a year to July 2025 so the Navy could perform more work to prepare it for deployment in the Indo-Pacific.

The Navy said the Kennedy would be equipped with “new technology and warfighting capabilities,” making the future aircraft carrier the “most agile and lethal combat platform globally.”

USS Enterprise

A Sea Hawk helicopter flying past the decommissioned US Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

The future USS Enterprise is one of two Ford-class carriers that wasn’t named after a US president. It carries on a storied name whose heritage includes the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a decorated World War II carrier, and a brig from the Barbary Wars more than 200 years ago.

Still under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News — the US’s only aircraft-carrier shipyard — the Enterprise was initially scheduled to deliver by March 2028, but the Navy’s shipbuilding review found that it would deliver by May 2030 at the latest.

In November, the Enterprise was moved for the first time at the shipyard to accommodate the construction of USS Doris Miller on the same dry dock.

USS Doris Miller

An artist rendering of USS Enterprise (CVN 80).

The other Ford-class carrier without a US president’s name is the future USS Doris Miller.

The future supercarrier, named after the US Navy sailor Doris “Dorie” Miller, is expected to be delivered a year and a half later than scheduled in early 2032.

Miller was a World War II hero of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The mess attendant fired at Japanese aircraft with a .50-caliber machine gun on the battleship USS West Virginia and was the first Black person to be awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest award for valor.

“Naming CVN 81 for Dorie Miller casts long overdue recognition to a true American hero and icon,” the master chief petty officer at the time, Russell Smith, said during the ship’s naming ceremony. “It also honors the contributions of African Americans and enlisted sailors for the first time in the history of American aircraft carriers.”

One controversy has been that the Nimitz-class carrier John C. Stennis honors a key lawmaker behind the funding of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers who was also a longtime segregationist and opponent of the US Navy’s racial integration.

USS William J. Clinton

President Bill Clinton with sailors aboard the USS Eisenhower.

Bill Clinton served as the 42nd president of the US, becoming the second president in US history to be impeached after Andrew Johnson in 1868. He faced charges of lying under oath and obstruction of justice in the wake of his infamous affair with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In his time as commander in chief, Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes against Iraq in retaliation for the assassination attempt on former President George H.W. Bush. He also played a key role in promoting peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland through the Oslo Accords and the Good Friday Agreement.

The name of the future CVN 82 was announced in a private ceremony shortly after the new year, during which Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was announced as the carrier’s sponsor.

“It’s never far from my mind that the precious freedoms Americans enjoy are safeguarded by our armed forces, anchored by a strong, modern, and agile Navy,” Clinton said in a statement. “I’m honored that future servicemembers carrying on that proud tradition will serve on a carrier bearing my name.”

USS George W. Bush

President George W. Bush during a visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln

The sixth Ford-class carrier is set to bear the name of former President George W. Bush, whose presidency was defined by the 9/11 attacks and the launching of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He implemented domestic counterterrorism measures and built a worldwide coalition to dismantle terrorist groups globally.

“I am honored that my name will be associated with the United States Navy and a symbol of our Nation’s might,” Bush said in a statement. “I have a special admiration for the men and women of our Navy — including my dad — and ask God to watch over this ship and those who sail aboard her.”

The 10th and final Nimitz-class carrier was named after Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the US. The elder Bush was honored for his service as one of the youngest naval aviators serving in World War II, receiving military decorations such as the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

CVN 82 and CVN 83 are set to be the fifth and sixth carriers to join the Navy’s fleet in the coming decade, but they’re not yet under construction, nor have contracts been issued to HII’s Newport News.

In a briefing last week, Christopher Kastner, the CEO and president of HII, urged the US Navy to follow its shipbuilding timeline to procure USS William J. Clinton by 2028 as planned to avoid supply-chain and workforce issues.