Bonus Post: I Feel Sorry For Donald Trump

Why? No Art

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This is not a political post. However, full disclosure, I did not, nor have I ever, voted for Donald Trump. But… I feel sorry for him. Why? – No art. He’s angry. There doesn’t seem to be any joy. Always combative. He rarely smiles. I truly think it’s because he has no art in his life. Now… I have no way of knowing for sure. Maybe in his spare time he listens to old jazz records, or goes to art museums. Reads Dickinson, Whitman, or Shakespeare. Watches art films. But I would guess not. Does he ever go to the theater or to an opera? Has he ever even been to the Kennedy Center? Since the beginning of the ‘Kennedy Center Honors’, all presidents attended this ‘non-partisan’ event. And they smiled and danced. Sang along… had fun. All except one.

During the last Trump administration, Bruce Springsteen wrote:

“There’s no art in the White House. There’s no literature, no poetry, no music. There are no pets in the White House. No time when the president takes off his blue suit, red tie uniform and becomes human. Except when he puts on his white shirt and khaki pants uniform and hides from the American people to play golf. There are no images of the first family enjoying themselves together in a moment of relaxation. No Obamas on the beach in Hawaii moments, or Bushes fishing in Kennebunkport. No Reagans on horseback. No Kennedys playing touch football on the Cape. Where’d that country go? When did all the fun, the joy, and the expression of love and happiness go? We used to have presidents who calmed and soothed the nation instead of dividing it. First ladies who planted gardens instead of ripping them out. We are rudderless and joyless. We have lost the cultural aspects of society that make America great. We have lost our mojo, our fun, our happiness, our cheering on of others, the shared experience of humanity that makes it all worth it. The challenges and the triumphs that we shared and celebrated, the unique can-do spirit that America has always been known for. We are lost and have lost so much.”

I wholeheartedly agree. And here we are again. At times it makes me angry, but mostly it just makes me sad. Everyone needs art.

George W. Bush read biographies and histories when in the White House and is now an avid painter.

Harry Truman was an voracious reader who read every book in the Independence Public Library.

FDR collected stamps (mini works of art?), books (literary art?), and ship models (structural art?). And enjoyed bird watching (nature and art?).

Eisenhower painted.

Reagan loved horses. Seeing a horse in full gallop – power and grace/nature and art. And… he was an actor.

Clinton played the sax. Thomas Jefferson was proficient on the violin and made wine. (Science and art.)

George H. W. Bush appeared on SNL with Dana Carvey. (One of my all-time favorite SNL skits.)

Obama’s reading lists and playlists. And grooving to the vocal artistry if ‘Hamilton’ in the White House. And dancing with Michelle.

Jimmy Carter loved music, was a huge Allman Brothers fan, and friends with many musicians. - "I was practically a non-entity," Carter says in the film Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President. "But everyone knew the Allman Brothers. When they endorsed me, all the young people said, 'Well, if the Allman Brothers like him, we can vote for him'."

Even Nixon played the piano.

But once again… no art.

Art promotes togetherness and opens our minds to new ideas.

Art allows us to see the humanity in other cultures.

Art can change our perceptions, makes us think, ponder… grow.

Art promotes empathy.

Art helps us to appreciate the aesthetics of life and nature.

Art brings joy.

Where there’s no art, there’s no joy. If there were more art in the White House, perhaps there would be more joy. And joy is contagious. Perhaps then we would all collectively feel more at ease. More together. More safe. And more like “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

If only there were more art…

Raymond Leone, MMT, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist based in Northern Virginia and writes extensively about music and wellness.