Presidential Polonaise

You probably know "Hail to the Chief."

What song could be more appropriate for the President of the United States?

Songs adapted from the Scots are, after all, extremely American and every president (at least since John Tyler, when the song was first used for the president) accepted the song.

Every president except Chester Arthur.

When Arthur learned of the origins of the song, he asked John Philip Sousa to write an alternative tune.

Sousa responded with the "Presidential Polonaise." Here is a link for your listening pleasure. The polonaise is a Polish musical style in 3/4 time. However Sousa manages to give the song a more Spanish feel. It's designed to keep people moving through the White House.

The song was first performed in 1886, both after Arthur's term and his death. The song did not last and "Hail to the Chief" quickly returned as the song of the presidents. It's a shame, really. "Presidential Polonaise" is an enjoyable tune and had great potential.

Instead, history continues to try and erase Chester Arthur from the minds of Americans.

John Tyler (1841-1845)

John Tyler is the man with the shortest Vice Presidency (31 days) and the most children of any president (15 plus possible mulatto children).

He also was probably the biggest side-changer (at least 2, possibly 3).

Prior to being nominated for VP by the Whigs, he was a Jacksonian Democrat. But some policies made him decide to ally with the Whigs. And so in 1836 he was a VP nominee for the Whigs, and in 1840 he won the Vice Presidency with William Henry Harrison.

Harrison died quickly, and Tyler made the bold move of becoming a full president, not acting. He did some stuff, including annex Texas and help make the veto evolve into not a Constitutional matter, but instead a matter of policy. His actions were more Democratic than Whig, so the latter group kicked him out of their party.

By this point, he's been a Democrat and a Whig and been thrown out to be on his own.

The really cool side change to remember about Tyler is the one where he joined the Confederates.

That's right. During the Civil War, he sided with the CSA. And he was a Sworn Enemy of the United States. No other president became a sworn enemy of the US. Some of the things Andrew Johnson did as president made him seem like an enemy, but he wasn't officially an enemy.


I honestly don't care too much about Tyler's policies, nothing can top the leader of our country becoming an enemy. Granted, he died January 18, 1962, so he didn't really do anything as a rebel, but imagine if Texas seceded and faught the US, with the support of George Bush. That's the rough equivalent. And damn that just sounds so cool.

The Vice President

"I spent several years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, in the dark, fed with scraps. Do you think I want to do that all over again as vice president of the United States?" ~John McCain

William Henry Harrison got the ball rolling in 1840 when he and John Tyler won the White House. Harrison tried to show that he was a stalwart, by giving a long inaugural speech in the rain. Everything was OK. That is, until Harrison croaked. (Geek points to anyone who catches all the references in the paragraph.)

At this point, it was unclear whether VP Tyler was meant to be an interim president and only act as that position, or if he was meant to become the new president for the rest of Harrison's term. Tyler chose the latter route, and Congress confirmed the decision. Since then, Vice Presidents have become president after a presidential passing. Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson all became president in this way.

The Vice President also gets a vote in Senate if there is a tie. He doesn't get a vote under other circumstances.

So... That seems like a pretty easy job. As Will Rogers put it, “The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, 'How is the president?'” Thomas Marshall, VP to Woodrow Wilson, said, “Once there were two brothers: one ran away to sea, the other was elected Vice-President - and nothing was ever heard from either of them again.”

Now, let's think about our current Vice President, Joe Biden. Joe Biden is a friend to the middle class. Joe Biden thinks John McCain has terrible ideas for this country, but Joe Biden loves John McCain and wants to reach across the aisle to pass bipartisan legislation with John McCain. Joe Biden talks in third person too much.

But what has Joe Biden done lately? Anything political going on? I certainly haven't heard any mention of him unless he was making an appearance somewhere.

But while the vice presidency is pretty much worthless, that whole becoming president if the current one dies thing is somewhat significant. It was a contributing motive to Garfield's assassination, it bit bosses in the butt when McKinley was assassinated, and some people didn't vote for John McCain in 2008 because they were afraid Sarah Palin would become president if he died.

But more often than not, the vice president isn't worth a sack of dirt. Unless Obama dies in office, Joe Biden is unlikely to suddenly have a greater political career. But hey, for four years he gets paid to make sure the president hasn't died yet.