Thank Goodness It's Monday #392

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

In the 1993 movie "Dave" the title character is a politically unsophisticated regular guy who looks like the film's fictional president. 

When pressed into duty to impersonate the ailing chief executive, Dave sings to himself while taking a shower in the White House:

 

Hail to the chief …

He’s the chief we all say hail to.

We all say "Hail"

'Cause he keeps himself so clean!

He's got the power,

That's why he's in the shower...

As the movie progresses, ordinary Dave sees in his extraordinary situation the opportunity to create necessary change. He acts on it and accomplishes his goal. 

Of course, that’s all a conveniently scripted and nicely acted bit of fiction.

At noon today in Washington DC the USA publically inaugurates our 44^th President for his second term. Barack Obama will once again hear the strains of the official Presidential Anthem of the United States -- Hail to the Chief -- played for him as he recommits to upholding the Constitution and fulfilling the duties of the highest office in our land. 

Derived from an old Gaelic tune, the melody was adapted and was first performed in New York in 1812. It caught on instantly. New lyrics were written and it was re-titled Wreaths for the Chieftain and played in Boston in 1815 to celebrate the birthday of George Washington. It’s had Presidential associations ever since.

So, with this capsule history, what's the TGIM point? 

The answer for today lies in the lyrics that the movie character Dave didn't know, and few citizens do. 

Here are the correct rarely sung lyrics of Hail to the Chief:

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,

Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.

Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation

In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.

Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,

This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief.

Hail to the one we selected as commander,

Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief! 

After a contentious first election, troubled first term, another contentious round of polling, and threatened rocky start for the President in the second term, the words “hail to the chief” hold a certain irony in and of themselves. 

Yet I think the lyrics also suggest one of the abiding reasons a democratic people in a democratically led nation can come together and know continued success. 

At noon today the Marine Band might have played this for a new 45^th President. But they will continue to play it for the duly reelected Commander in Chief, President Barack Obama. 

And a United States hopes for "proud fulfillment of a great noble, call."

Speaking of “proud fulfillment of a great noble, call” …

Today we also commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. – with one of the Monday Federal holidays that TGIM must regularly address. 

This year the connection is completely obvious. 

Talk about dreams and “a dream deferred.” Roughly four years ago when Barack Obama first assumed the Presidency the long-held hopes and dreams and aspirations of many people became more tangible. Many finally began to feel their deferred dreams were well on the way to being fully realized.

Four years later: There will be many comparisons and lots of insightful and significant talk about whether this is, in fact, so. 

Surely there will continue to be soul searching, and forward-looking messages, and challenges, and – especially today -- inspiring speeches that likely will echo through the centuries.

 

And there will be naysayers and folks who see all this as empty platitudes and manipulative political posturing and branding.

TGIM Takeaway: What it will all amount to for each of us as individuals – what kind of “opportunity” this presents as well as represents – depends almost entirely on each of us as individuals.

You will recall that four years ago in the run up to the November 2008 election virtually every candidate for the Presidency talked about “change” – so much so that an important truth almost became trivialized. Still, the idea resonates because it’s a universal longing.

This year the official inauguration theme is “Faith in America’s Future.”

Four years ago, echoing Abraham Lincoln, it was “A New Birth of Freedom” and the official inauguration poster featured the phrase – 

“Be the Change.” That thought and counsel is usually viewed as the embodiment of the philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, best known by the honorific Mahatma (“Great Soul” in Sanskrit) Gandhi. 

And Gandhi and his non-violence were a foundational inspiration to MLK Jr. and those he inspired to carry his efforts forward.

Change = Opportunity + Action

The untrivial fact of life is, if you really want change in any part of your life --

It takes action. 

►   You can think about change …

►   You can read about change …

►   You can listen to and watch others speak about change …

Or -

►   You can take action and change. 

You and I are not so far removed from Lincoln or Gandhi or MLK Jr. and, dare we say, Obama, or hundreds of thousands of other “ordinary” men and women who longed for change … saw the opportunity to create change … and took action. 

They made history.

You can make history, too. It’s not always easy. It’s not always immediate. It’s seldom accomplished alone. It may not be on a grand scale.

But it can be done. If you see the opportunity and act on it, you can “be the change” and you can make change happen. That is perhaps one of the greatest personal improvement lessons any individual can take away from our historic past and the eventful days ahead.

Hail! TGIMers. I salute you, one and all. Be the change. Keep the faith. And --

Work for success. Yours … ours … and our nation’s.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. According to the Library of Congress: It was Julia Tyler, the wife of the tenth President, John Tyler, who first requested that Hail to the Chief be played specifically to announce the President's arrival on official occasions. 

The tune was included in certain nineteenth century musical instruction books and the future First Lady, Sarah Childress Polk, studied it as a young woman. It was played at the inauguration of her husband, James Polk (the eleventh President). But she, perhaps more than others, ritualized its use. As the historian William Seale stated,

“Polk was not an impressive figure, so some announcement was necessary to avoid the embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed. At large affairs the band...rolled the drums as they played the march...and a way was cleared for the President.”

It was not until 1954 that the Department of Defense established Hail to the Chief as the official music to announce the President of the United States.