Along with the thirteen jazz events held at the White House during his administration, President Nixon invited jazz vocalist Ethel Ennis to sing the national anthem at his second inauguration ceremony on January 20, 1973. Full credit for this occurrence belongs to Vice President Agnew, however.
Out of the blue, some two years before, the vice president, who was also the former governor of Maryland, called the singer and invited her to appear with entertainers Frank Sinatra and Danny Thomas at Maryland’s Governors Day celebration. Afterward, along with her husband and others, Ms. Ennis joined the vice president in his apartment, where she learned that not only was he a jazz aficionado, but in fact, he had all seven of her albums. Unlike Nixon, Agnew was a jazz fan (Swing era mostly), as well as a more accomplished pianist than the president. Agnew ably accompanied his favorite singer on his grand piano for the rest of the evening.
As it turned out, this night was but a prelude to the next out-of-the blue phone call: an invitation to sing the national anthem at the Republican Convention in July, 1972, which led to the invite by the president to sing at his inauguration the following January. (1)
Out of the blue, some two years before, the vice president, who was also the former governor of Maryland, called the singer and invited her to appear with entertainers Frank Sinatra and Danny Thomas at Maryland’s Governors Day celebration. Afterward, along with her husband and others, Ms. Ennis joined the vice president in his apartment, where she learned that not only was he a jazz aficionado, but in fact, he had all seven of her albums. Unlike Nixon, Agnew was a jazz fan (Swing era mostly), as well as a more accomplished pianist than the president. Agnew ably accompanied his favorite singer on his grand piano for the rest of the evening.
As it turned out, this night was but a prelude to the next out-of-the blue phone call: an invitation to sing the national anthem at the Republican Convention in July, 1972, which led to the invite by the president to sing at his inauguration the following January. (1)
Politics aside, jazz, then as now, benefits immensely when a star the caliber of an Ethel Ennis is given an opportunity to be seen and heard by millions of Americans. And shine she did, becoming the first vocalist from the world of jazz to sing the nation’s hymn in the inaugural spotlight—and the first to sing it a cappella.
- Sallie Kravitz, Ethel Ennis: The Reluctant Jazz Star (Baltimore: Hughes Enterprises/Gateway Press, 1984), 83–86.
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