Having won the presidency in 1920 and overcome a post-war economic depression, to then survive the Teapot Dome and other Harding Administration scandals to win the presidency again in 1924, the Republicans went for a third try in 1928, nominating a man… Read More ›
Campaign Music
Songs to elect Presidents by.
Cool but Contemplative: Jolson Jazzes with Coolidge’s 1924 Campaign Song
He came back – with another song. This time, however, when the legendary screen and stage actor, Al Jolson first performed the official campaign song of a Republican presidential campaign, he didn’t have to march the streets of small-town Oho and… Read More ›
The First President To Win With Actors: Al Jolson’s 1920 Campaign Song for Harding
George Clooney, fundraising and providing thematic strategy for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign or Clint Eastwood speaking at the convention nominating Mitt Romney: neither story causes a blink in either Hollywood or Washington. Yet preceding even the famous efforts of… Read More ›
Sinatra at Jack’s Back: The John F. Kennedy 1960 Campaign Song
A Hoboken, New Jersey native and the son of Italian immigrants, Frank Sinatra was the Elvis, the Bieber, the Jagger, of the teenage generation during World War II. After a few years of bobbysoxer besiege, however, “Old Blue Eyes” slid… Read More ›
Jimmy Carter’s Green “Country” Brand: His 1976 Campaign Song
Few run for President on a set of promises to the people which they then insist on keeping once they are elected, with such conviction that it then helps them lose re-election. It was an important storyline underlining the phenomena which… Read More ›
Bill Clinton’s Song: He Never Stops Thinking ‘Bout….
Amid the din of cheering and the shift in audio from the microphone back to the voice-over of news anchors, one would have had to listen closely after former President Bill Clinton finished his speech yesterday at the Democratic National… Read More ›
The Last Original Campaign Song: Jerry Ford’s Bicentennial Tune
Yesterday, it was learned that The Silversun Pickups directed its attorney to request that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stop using its song “Panic Switch,” as a campaign song, for political reasons. In the last quarter of a century, this… Read More ›
Ike, Irving, Mamie & Merman: The Hit Song Which Elected a President
It was like a double-date between the entertainment and political world and while it resulted in helping a Republican, it had all been prompted by a Democrat. There’s No Business Like Show Business, Easter Parade, White Christmas: these are just… Read More ›
“Hello Lyndon!” How Carol Channing Helped LBJ Win the Election
They were both accused, at times, of being corny caricatures, but as human beings the legendary President from Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Hollywood and Broadway actress Carol Channing were exuberant and enthusiastic about what they loved most. And in… Read More ›
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