Book Description

Political historians have traditionally interpreted the people and events of each presidential era by studying books, periodicals, letters, diaries and speeches. One source of printed material that has not received much scholarly attention is published music, much of which has been all but lost in the archives of libraries and museums. The traditional librarianly cataloguing of music has ignored important aspects such as lyrical content and cover art, making it impossible to comprehensively locate and study items by subject matter. Presidential Sheet Music presents an exhaustive listing of presidential-related music in all printed forms, and provides information on each piece. Thus may we expand our understanding of political communication and discourse throughout American history. A sizable Introduction discusses matters from the publication in 1768 of The Liberty Song (which formally made music an instrument of political expression in America) to the few 1980s and 1990s presidential songs and marches. There are also helpful appendices which list music by titles, composers, publishers, and candidates.