Collection The Ford White House 1974 - 1977
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., the nation’s only unelected president and vice president, served thirteen terms in Congress before rising to...
Main Content
Both John Quincy Adams and his wife, Louisa Catherine, were great devotees of music, and often sang ballads and arias together, while Louisa played the White House American-made Babcock piano, now housed in the Smithsonian Institution. At one of the decade’s most important historic events -- the ground-breaking ceremony for the excavation of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828 -- the Marine Band played, among other selections, the lilting boat song, "Hail to the Chief," from the popular musical play, The Lady of the Lake after Sir Walter Scott [see more below]. Because John Quincy Adams was present at the ceremony, the occasion marked the first time "Hail to the Chief" was played for a president. The tune has become an important American ceremonial tradition and regularly heralds the appearance of the president at formal events of state today.
Landmark Era Performance - 1828:
Derived from an old Gaelic air, Hail to the Chief 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 in the presence of President
John Quincy Adams.
Sheet music from The Lady of the Lake, c. 1812.
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., the nation’s only unelected president and vice president, served thirteen terms in Congress before rising to...
A donation from the Recording Industry Association of America to the Nixon White House, the White House Recording Library was...
Bartlett Sher is a Tony Award-winning director who has brought thoughtful, powerful productions to theaters, opera houses, and film. He...
The White House has always shaped the lives of the Presidents and First Families who have lived there, and reflected...
Music is often called the universal language. It has been known to break down barriers and shape historic events in...
Who takes care of the thousands of historic artifacts in the White House, cataloguing and preserving everything from presidential portraits...
How do you plan for a State Dinner with hundreds of guests, a private meal with a King and Queen...
In its more than 200 years of history, the White House has seen many physical changes, but its original stone walls...
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s advocacy for the arts endures as a vital part of th...
The burning of the White House by the British in 1814 during James Madison's presidency represented a low point in our...
Spring is a special time in our nation’s capital, when cherry blossoms bloom and the White House garden comes al...
Portrait artists have captured the image and personality of our presidents throughout history, providing a record of their time in...