Collection Presidential Retreats
Presidents have found different ways to escape the pressures and politics of the position. For early leaders, it was a...
The United States Marine Band: Music as Diplomacy
How Long? 1 minute
Gallery
-
1 of 3
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt review the troops at a state arrival ceremony, June 29, 1966.
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
2 of 3
King Kalakaua of Hawaii dined with President Ulysses S. Grant on December 12, 1874. This was the first time the Marine Band played for a visited head of state.
White House Collection/The White House Historical Association -
3 of 3
President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin greet Colonel John Bourgeois, Director of the U.S. Marine Band on June 16, 1992.
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
Music has been an essential part of life in the White House from the earliest days of our nation, not only as a "companion" to divert, delight, and "sweeten many hours," as Thomas Jefferson professed, but also as an element of the pageantry accompanying international diplomacy. Through the years the United States Marine Band has musically represented the nation before world-wide audiences, including kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, in war and peace, in triumph and in tragedy. The White House calls upon the Marine Band to perform at welcoming ceremonies, state dinners, receptions, and other official functions.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Collection The Hospitality of Diplomacy
The White House has hosted many important heads of state over the years. Typically, the President and First Lady join...
-
Collection Diplomacy With Our Northern Neighbors
Geography, history, and friendship have been the driving force of official ties between the United States and Canada. In 1927, our...
-
Collection Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day"
The White House Historical Association and the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project present this collaboration in an effort to open a...
-
Collection The White House Social Secretary
For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have displayed a profound knowledge of protocol and society in...
-
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 Italy in the White House
Long before the emergence of the United States and Italy as nations, close connections between our two peoples influenced political...
-
Collection A Cultural Connection
For over two hundred years France and the United States have enjoyed a relationship unparalleled in world history. From the...
-
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 Presidents & Baseball
No sport is more closely tied to the American presidency than baseball. One of Washington’s first baseball fields was lo...
-
Collection Dining in the Executive Mansion
A dinner at the White House has always had significance beyond the merely gastronomical. The elegance of the State Dining...
-
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...
