What Presidents Of America Played Musical Instruments During Their Time In Political Office
Several various studies have been done about the former and present Presidents of the US. Some have attempted to connect certain characteristics to be similar from various Presidents such as several of them reached the Eagle Scout level in the Boy Scouts or that the taller one tends to win in the overall election of a President. This one will discuss the various musical abilities among the past Presidents and which ones played the concert flute and what one performed a number on his alto saxophone several times during his presidency. Could having musical abilities be another one of those common traits that Presidents have to link them to one another?
One of our earliest presidents known as Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd President and is well known for drafting the Declaration of Independence as well as his important role in the Louisiana Purchase. He was said to be quite musically inclined and played a variety of instruments of cello, clavichord and the violin. The 6th president of America, John Quincy Adams, who was commander in chief and lived from 1767-1848 was best known for forming the Monroe Doctrine but a little known fact about him was that he loved playing the flute and was very accomplished at it.
Another player of the violin was the 28th President of America, Woodrow Wilson. He lived from 1856- 1924 and was best known for creating the League of Nations. Our 33rd president, Harry Truman who served as the President near the end of World War II, enjoyed playing the piano. He was quite a talented pianist and often played to entertain important political figures that were visiting. Another piano playing President was President Nixon who was the 37th President and is mostly remembered for the Watergate Scandal. In addition to the piano, Nixon also played the accordian and did so often for his children.
The most recent President to have shown his love for music and his ability at playing an instrument was the 42nd President, Bill Clinton. Besides John F. Kennedy he was the youngest President to be elected who was only in his 30′s. He is an enormous jazz and blues fan and loved playing the saxophone. He played all through high school and never stopped saying that it was one of his favorite pastimes. While campaigning for President in 1992 he went on the Arsenio Hall Show and performed Heartbreak Hotel on his saxophone donning dark sunglasses. Until then he was behind in the polls and a lot of Americans think that this helped him to be more popular and move on to become the President. In order to raise money to help Aids research, Bill Clinton had auctioned off his saxophone and collected $180,000.
Music is just another hobby that many Americans enjoy and apparently many Presidents of the United States enjoyed doing it too. It proved that they had other talents besides being intelligent public servants and something that a lot of people in the US probably didn’t realize about them.
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