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Late in James K. Polk’s presidency, his wife Sarah Childress Polk received an unusual gift that implicitly equated expansionism with imperialism. As a tribute to President Polk’s success as commander in chief during the Mexican-American War, General William J. Worth gave the first lady a life-size, three-quarter-length portrait of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.1 Copied from the un
President and Mrs. John Adams were the first occupants of the White House in the nation’s new capital, the City of Washington. Shortly after moving into the mansion in November 1800, the Adams’s invited the young United States Marine Band, consisting of only eight or ten musicians, to play at their first reception on New Years Day, 1801. This event esta
To Alexander Woollcott, the White House was the “best theatrical boarding house in Washington.” To his hostess, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Woollcott was “a perfect guest,” one she welcomed “with open arms.” To White House Chief Usher, Howell G. Crim, however, the former drama critic, popular lecturer and radio personality, sometime actor, and Algonquin Round Table habitué was “impossible.” The White House house
Music in the White House during the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter reflected a wider segment of American culture than ever before, with the appearance of jazz, gospel, ragtime, and popular song, as well as classical concert and vocal forms. Following various official state dinners, Pearl Bailey, with Richard Nixon at the piano, sang for President Pompidou of
In June 2001, President Bush proclaimed the month of June, “Black Music Month,” encouraging “all Americans to learn more about the contributions of black artists to America's musical heritage and to celebrate their remarkable role in shaping our history and culture.” Performers Lionel Hampton, Shirley Caesar, Bobby Jones, James Brown, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the Harlem Jazz Museum Artists attended
Called "In Performance from the White House," the PBS programs from the White House during the two administrations of Ronald Reagan broadened to include not only classical styles as seen under the Carters, but Broadway, country, jazz and gospel, always with creative theatrical flair. One of the Reagans’ most successful televised series, "A Tribute to American Music," took place from fa
Before the White House was completed in 1800, President George Washington and his wife Martha lived first in New York City, then Philadelphia. Washington enjoyed the theater and liked to dance, especially the minuet, which he danced with great pleasure at his inaugural ball. Music in the president’s home was an intimate amusement and young Nelly Custis, the president’s musi
