Hail To The Chief
"Hail to the Chief" is the official Presidential Anthem of the United States. Its playing accompanies the appearance of the President at many public appearances. For major official occasions, the United States Marine Band and other military ensembles generally are the performers, so directives of the U.S. Department of Defense have since 1954 been the main basis for according it official status. It is preceded by four ruffles and flourishes when played for the President. The song is also played during a former President's state funeral, though it can also be played even if the funeral is not a state funeral such as the funeral of Richard Nixon. The song is in the public domain.
Read more about Hail To The Chief: History, The Lyrics
Famous quotes containing the words hail to the, the chief, hail to, hail and/or chief:
“Hail to thee, lady! and the grace of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
Enwheel thee round!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Is it not the chief disgrace in the world, not to be an unit;Mnot to be reckoned one character;Mnot to yield that peculiar fruit which each man was created to bear, but to be reckoned in the gross, in the hundred, or the thousand, of the party, the section, to which we belong; and our opinion predicted geographically, as the north, or the south?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Hail to thee, lady! and the grace of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
Enwheel thee round!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“A mouth that has no moisture and no breath
Breathless mouths may summon;
I hail the superhuman;
I call it death-in-life and life-in-death.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Who’ll be chief mourner?
I, said the dove,
I’ll mourn for my love,
I’ll be chief mourner.”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. Who killed Cock Robin? (L. 33–36)