Campaign Songs
Entertainers have written and performed many songs for presidential campaigns. Al Jolson (1886-1950) headed the Harding and Coolidge Theatrical League during the 1920 election campaign and led a delegation of seventy-five performers to the home of Senator Harding (1865–1923) in Marion, Ohio for a rally on the candidate’s front porch. “Harding, You’re the Man for Us,” written for the occasion, became the campaign’s official campaign song. For an Eisenhower rally during the 1952 presidential campaign, Irving Berlin (1888-1989) rewrote the song “They Like Ike” from his musical Call Me Madam as “I Like Ike.” At a 1954 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by the president, Irving Berlin reprised the song, proclaiming “I Still Like Ike” in a newly written chorus.
Entertainers have written and performed many songs for presidential campaigns. Al Jolson (1886-1950) headed the Harding and Coolidge Theatrical League during the 1920 election campaign and led a delegation of seventy-five performers to the home of Senator Harding (1865–1923) in Marion, Ohio for a rally on the candidate’s front porch. “Harding, You’re the Man for Us,” written for the occasion, became the campaign’s official campaign song. For an Eisenhower rally during the 1952 presidential campaign, Irving Berlin (1888-1989) rewrote the song “They Like Ike” from his musical <em>Call Me Madam</em> as “I Like Ike.” At a 1954 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by the president, Irving Berlin reprised the song, proclaiming “I Still Like Ike” in a newly written chorus.