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Poetry and The American Presidency
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John Adams, the second President of the United States, always traveled with a book of English poetry and took comfort and pleasure in reading from it during his many long journeys. When his son John Quincy was a young boy Adams told him, “You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.” John Quincy Adams became the sixth President of the United States and the author of over 350 poems.
For a number of American Presidents poetry has been an important part of their lives at one time or another. Several Presidents besides John Quincy Adams wrote poetry out of emotional or aesthetic inspiration, or as escape from the difficulties of their political lives and work. Other Presidents, like John Adams, read poetry regularly throughout their lives and it served as a mirror for their personal values and deepest feelings. A few Presidents who had a deep interest in the art of poetry made time in their busy schedules to write commentaries and analyses of it.
Presidents have promoted the importance of poetry in the cultural life of a great nation. Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first President understood the power of poetry. He was an avid reader of the world’s great poets including Chaucer, Dante, Homer, and Tennyson, among others, and said, “Perhaps what this country needs is a great poem. Something to lift people out of fear and selfishness.”
PAUL J. FERLAZZO - Personal Name
1st Edtion
978-1-4539-0540-1
NONE
Poetry and The American Presidency
Communication
English
Peter Lang Publishing, Inc
2002
USA
1-161
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