There are many stories associated with the playing of the song "Hail to the Chief" for a U.S. president. The first time the song was played to honor a president was in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 22, 1815, to celebrate what would have been George Washington's eighty-third birthday. On July 4, 1828, with President John Quincy Adams in attendance, the Marine Band performed the song at the ground-breaking ceremony for the excavation of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. During the Tyler administration, first lady Julia Tyler asked the Marine Band to announce the arrival of President John Tyler by playing "Hail to the Chief." The next first lady, Sarah Polk (1803-1891; see entry in volume 2), requested that the band play the tune as a way of making guests aware that President James K. Polk was entering a room. Polk was a short man and often...