Collection Music in the White House
Music is often called the universal language. It has been known to break down barriers and shape historic events in...
The United States Marine Band: Hail to the Chief
Gallery
-
Sheet music, from The Lady of the Lake, 1812.
Music Division, Library of Congress -
President John Tyler was accompanied by Hail to the Chief after First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler instructed the Marine Band to play it whenever the president made an official appearance.
White House Historical Association -
First Lady Sarah Polk made Hail to the Chief official in announcing the president's entrance to an event. On this 1994 White House Christmas ornament, the band and the Polks are shown on the South grounds of the White House.
White House Historical Association
About this Gallery
Hail to the Chief, with its preceding fanfare Ruffles and Flourishes, is traditionally played to announce the arrival of the president at state functions. Derived from an old Gaelic air, Hail to the Chief was used in James Sanderson's musical play of 1812, The Lady of the Lake. The song was already very popular when the Marine Band played it from a barge for the opening of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on July 4,1828, in the presence of President John Quincy Adams. First Lady Sarah Polk made Hail to the Chief official in announcing the president's entrance to an event. The band honors the president with the song hundreds of times a year at ceremonial and diplomatic events.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Collection The First Ladies
Biographies & Portraits
-
Collection The Presidents
Biographies & Portraits
-
Collection "The President's Own"
On July 11, 1798, President John Adams approved legislation that officially brought "The President's Own" United States Marine Band into being, making...
-
Collection The Kennedys and the Arts
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s advocacy for the arts endures as a vital part of th...
-
Collection An Artist Visits the White House Past
From its construction in 1792, until the 1902 renovation that shaped the modern identity and functions of the interior of the White...
-
Collection Fourth of July at the White House
It was President Thomas Jefferson who first established the traditions of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House....
-
Bio Abigail Adams
Inheriting New England's strongest traditions, Abigail Smith was born on November 11, 1744 at Weymouth, Massachusetts. On her mother's side she was...
-
Bio Helen Taft
"Nellie" Herron was born in 1861, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She studied music with enthusiasm, attending a private school...
-
Bio Julia Tyler
Born in 1820, Julia Gardiner by the age of 20 was already famous as the "Rose of Long Island." Descended from prominent...
-
Bio Andrew Johnson
With the assassination of Lincoln, the presidency fell upon an old-fashioned southern Democrat of pronounced states' rights views. Although an...
-
Bio Edith Wilson
"Secret President," "first woman to run the government" - so legend has labeled a first lady whose role gained unusual...
