George M. Cohan’s Next Song and Dance: Make America a More Perfect Union
George M. Cohan,
celebrated American singer, dancer, playwright,
composer, lyricist, actor, theatrical producer, and above-all, patriot, has received renewed attention since Donald Trump has plunged onto the
political arena. Some have misused his memory to liken Trump to Cohan. But comparing Trump to Cohan is
like comparing polyester or nylon to cotton or silk. Each can be used to
weave a flag, but even a discerning eye can sometimes be fooled into thinking
that the artificial is authentic. In fact, Cohan and all he created became an
authentic unifying force in the United States. He therefore belongs to
all Americans, with perhaps one exception—the Great Divider and master of fake
news, Donald Trump.
As Cohan's
great-granddaughter, I come to this view with a unique perspective on the man. According
to family lore (and his World War I and World War II draft cards), Cohan was born in Providence, Rhode
Island, on July 4, 1878, a mere 13 years after the Civil War, a war in which his father served. Together with his parents, Jerry and
Nellie, second-generation Irish-American-Catholic-immigrants, and his older
sister, Josie, the small, close-knit family comprised the vaudeville act, The
Four Cohans. During his childhood, as the Cohans traveled throughout the
ever-expanding United States, Cohan lived through a period of rapid industrialization
and urbanization and witnessed waves of immigration under the eternal light of
the Statue of Liberty, dedicated in New York when he was only eight years old. Cohan, who received his education on stages
in cities and towns peppering the States, met ordinary Americans—of all races
and ethnicities—who experienced egregious working conditions. Cohan, ever the gregarious and curious one,
absorbed those stories into his being. Always a proud American, he still could
not have missed the hurtful signs throughout America declaring, “No dogs, No Irish.”
Cohan, the hard-nosed
musical genius, would never accept being “other.” Believing he was destined for greatness—after
all, he was born on the Fourth of July in a city called Providence and was named
after our first President who united the 13 original colonies into one nation—Cohan
wrote music and danced for the ordinary American with ordinary problems. He broke the rules by creating his unique form of song and eccentric dance, which allowed him to break into New
York, doing it his way and making his first million—an amount worth $30 million
today—before he reached the age of 21.
These
experiences shaped Cohan. He was
universally known for his magnanimous treatment of actors (paying them
well-above market and even giving money to down-on-their luck actors) which is
why he took the 1919 Actor’s Equity Strike as a personal blow to his
heart. Contrary to popular belief, he did
not oppose unions. In an undated “Open Letter To The Members of
The Acting Profession,” he
expressed his opposition to the closed shop, not to unionization. And it was
Cohan who brought in the mediator, ending that strike and delivering a more
favorable contract than had been contemplated.
Cohan treated all
he met (Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Jewish-Americans, African-Americans,
Japanese-Americans, and all other Americans) as Americans first—not to be
confused with “America First.” His best friend, business partner, and
brother-in-law, Sam Harris, was Jewish.
His sister’s husband, Fred Niblo, was a French-Prussian American. His valet and confidante, Michio “Mike” Hirano, with whom he shared a close personal
friendship, hailed from Japan. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Hirano was sent to a
Japanese internment camp. Cohan urgently
telegrammed then-Attorney General Francis Biddle, stating, “I will personally
vouch for Mike Hirano,” but that telegram fell on deaf ears, leaving Cohan
bereft. After World War II, Cohan’s
children, who grew up with Hirano, searched for him, but could never find him.
Cohan himself
experienced discrimination, not only for being Irish-American, but for being
perceived as “other.” He was denied
entry to a country club because of his last name. When Cohan told the desk clerk it was “Cohan”
not “Cohen,” the desk clerk apologized.
“I’m sorry, I thought you were Jewish,” he said, to which Cohan replied,
“Yes, and I thought you were American.”
Cohan’s
patriotism served to unify Americans during desperate times. Always creating, he was inspired
to write “You’re a Grand Old Flag” in 1906 when a Civil War veteran (who fought at Gettysburg), clutching
a tattered flag, turned to Cohan, who happened to be sitting next to him, and
said, “She’s a grand old rag.” That song
went on to be the first showtune to sell over one million copies. In 1917, on the morning the United States
entered World War I, Cohan wrote “Over There,” a song that sold two million
copies, and then gave the proceeds to the Red Cross. Cohan, whose name and works are synonymous
with patriotism, received the Congressional Gold medal for his composition of
these patriotic songs and their contribution to the American spirit.
Although the
family remained apolitical (Cohan was friendly with politicians on both sides
of the aisle), Cohan’s views were most closely aligned with Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive
republicanism. Cohan, like Roosevelt, believed that being American meant that
every person “big or small, rich or poor” was entitled to “a square deal.” Even Irish Americans, considered racially and
culturally inferior to Anglo-Saxon whites, were entitled that deal, which means
justice, fairness, equality, and dignity.
Fast forward a century, and most Irish Americans seemed to have received
that deal, but unfortunately, we can’t say the same for African Americans and
other people of color.
In contrast to
Cohan’s self-made status, generous spirit, and focus on the ordinary person,
Trump was born into privilege by a successful real estate developer and a
former maid, who emigrated from Scotland.
But having inherited hundreds of millions from his
father, Trump embraced
his privilege, rejected his mother’s humble roots, and blew his fortune. #BornToPrivilege.
In contrast to
Cohan, who wrote a tribute to the U.S. flag, Trump hugs the U.S. flag and
embraces treasonous Confederate symbols.
One shudders when watching footage
of this vulgar, strangely intimate moment between the President of the United
States and the nonconsenting flag. This
is the same man who called for a boycott of the NFL because
Colin Kaepernick knelt before the flag in protest of the United States’ historically
poor treatment of black Americans. I ask you, which is more disrespectful to the
flag, using it to protest racial grievances or molesting it?
#DisrespectsTheUSFlag.
In contrast to
Cohan, whose song “Over There,” is a masterpiece of diplomacy, promising our
longest-standing allies, Britain and France, that “we won’t come back till it’s
over, over there,” Trump has repeatedly alienated those very same allies,
siding instead with dictators and demagogues. Our transatlantic relationship, once
the cornerstone for spreading democracy throughout the globe, is now strained
by Trump’s mismanagement. The European Union travel ban is only the latest
fallout of Trump’s leadership gap. #LeadershipGap.
In contrast to
Cohan, who dignified the military with his song and dance, Trump spits in the
face of our military men and women by ignoring warnings that the Russian
government had put bounties on the heads of American soldiers. #DerelictionOfDuty.
In contrast to
Cohan, who gave away much of his fortune, Trump cheats workers, banks, and
others out of their money, using other people’s money to create his persona of the rich New
York playboy. After his bankruptcies in the early 1990s, Trump could not obtain loans from New
York banks and was forced to deal with Deutsche Bank and Russian financial
sources. And now in his role as POTUS, his
mismanagement the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the worst U.S. economy
since the Great Depression; like everything else he touches, the United States
is also going bankrupt.
#ReverseMidasTouch.
In contrast to
Cohan’s definition of American-style patriotism, “where there’s never a boast
or a brag,” Trump incessantly broadcasts to all who will listen that he is the
smartest, best, greatest, richest person in the world. #Narcissist.
In contrast to
Cohan’s optimistic spirit that America is great, but not perfect, and can only
get better, Trump tells us that only he, and he alone, can make America great
again. #Arrogance.
In contrast to
Cohan and his family, who fought to reunite a divided America during the Civil
War (his father was a Civil War veteran) and then used entertainment to help reunite
a divided world, Trump uses entertainment to divide Americans and isolate us
from our allies—allies we died for to create a world built on liberty, equality,
and democracy, yet free from the extremism of fascism on the right and
totalitarian communism on the left. #TheGreatDivider.
Having been born
in the aftermath of the Civil War and having died on November 5, 1942, during
the near destruction of humankind, George M. Cohan never surrendered his hope
for America and Americans even when America disappointed us. It is that spirit of generosity and
inclusiveness which describes the very best that America can be. It is the exclusivity of privilege and the
tyranny of the “other” that defines the very worst excesses of who we are. I, like Cohan, hope that we can find, within
each of us, ways to include all who want to keep America on the path toward a
more perfect union rather than to retreat to a past where extremism captured
our worst selves.
Anne Marie Lofaso, great-granddaughter of George M. Cohan
Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law
West Virginia University College of Law
Morgantown, WV
Harvard University, 1987; University of Pennsylvania, J.D. 1991; University of Oxford, D.Phil., 1997
Thank you for this important, well laid out example of the stark differences between a true patriot and a conman who hides behind a red white and blue curtain pulling the levers of hate and divisiveness. If we are truly to make America Great Again, it will be to remove and replace Trump and all those who follow him. Thank you.
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