Author Archives
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White House Halloweens: Jackie Kennedy, FDR, Reagan, Hillary & More in Costume
(Photo Gallery of Presidential Families in Costumes follow below this essay) Halloween has been celebrated in the United States at parties for well over a century, but not until the 1950s did it go entirely mainstream with mass-produced costumes for… Read More ›
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The Twinges and Twang of George W. Bush’s 2000 & 2004 Campaign Music
All through the twelve years of his father’s four campaigns for the highest national offices, George W. Bush was at his father’s side: 1980, when he lost the presidential nomination but won as the vice-presidential candidate with Reagan, their 1984… Read More ›
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Felix Baumgartner Left Earth Today to Free-Fall Thru the Sound Barrier…And History
Not as much of the world may, right now, be watching television as it did a half-century ago when, in 1961, U.S. astronaut John Glenn flew in the first space capsule to orbit the globe, or waiting by a radio… Read More ›
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The Echo & Dissonance of George Bush’s 1988 Campaign Music
Although the 41st President George Bush had known and been involved in the presidential campaigns of his Republican predecessors since Dwight D. Eisenhower, his own in 1988 was singularly distinct for the echo rather than sounds of a strongly defining campaign song… Read More ›
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A Reagan Country Song & California Classic by ABBA: His 1980 & 1984 Campaign Music
The presidential campaign year of 1980 marked the beginning of what might be termed “theme music” being adopted by presidential candidates, rather than the traditional campaign song. 1976, the year Ronald Reagan lost his challenge to incumbent President Gerald Ford… Read More ›
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Fighting Bigotry Shaped Truman’s 1948 Campaign Tunes (& Carmen Miranda Sang One)
In the fall of 1945, six months after inheriting the presidency upon the April death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman was back home in his beloved state of Missouri, visiting the county fair in the small town… Read More ›
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Nixon Then, Nixon Now, Connie Francis & His Changing Campaign Songs from 1960 to 1972
No question about it, Richard Nixon cut the widest swath when it came to presidential campaign songs, both in terms of on-message lyrics and musical genres. Then again, he ran for President three times over the course of a dozen… Read More ›
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FDR’s Four-Times Happy Campaign Song & A Home Movie Showing Him Paralyzed
It didn’t start out as his – but like so much else, Franklin Roosevelt claimed it for himself because he saw its value of association. Alice Roosevelt Longworth, his wife’s first cousin, loved telling the story of a couple in… Read More ›
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