WHAT A MAN -- George M. Cohan tribute to FDR

In this rare recording, George M. Cohan performs his own song, WHAT A MAN, in tribute to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a birthday party for the President on Jan. 30, 1934. Cohan was, by his own admission, "not much of a vocalist," and at least one newspaper critic concurred in his review of Cohan's performance on this broadcast. Having said that, the song itself (if you can hear it in the background over the announcer's voice) is quite catchy, and Cohan's delivery is robust.
NOTE: Sadly, the beginning of the first verse is missing from the original source recording, but what remains gives a good idea of the entire piece.

The song itself is adapted from WE NEED A MAN, a song Cohan wrote for his one and only film musical THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT (1932) -- but the song was not used for the film, which otherwise had a score by Rodgers & Hart.
The party for FDR's 52nd birthday was broadcast from the casino floor of the Biltmore Hotel in New York. Deems Taylor was the host, with Howard Lanin and his orchestra providing the accompaniment for Cohan's song. (Paul Whiteman and his orchestra were also among the guests featured on the broadcast.) The birthday party was one in a series of presidential "birthday balls" which were fundraising events to eradicate polio. Eventually, these balls led to the formation of THE MARCH OF DIMES.

Those who know the film YANKEE DOODLE DANDY will recognize the FDR-Cohan connection, which was, in reality, a bit more complicated than the film suggests. Cohan was a supporter of FDR during his initial 1932 campaign, even adapting the lyrics for his WWI hit "Over There" to "What a Man" -- though not the same melody or lyric as what we have here.
However, just two-and-a-half years after this tribute, Cohan had soured on FDR, feeling his policies -- particularly regarding the support of unionism -- had gone too far. (Cohan had fought the formation of Actors Equity in 1919). When Cohan was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for two of his patriotic songs ("Grand Old Flag" and "Over There") on May 28, 1936, he chose not to go and pick it up because it would mean having to meet with FDR. To add another twist, the following year (1937), Cohan was offered the chance to PLAY Roosevelt on Broadway in the satirical musical comedy I'D RATHER BE RIGHT. This would be the first time a living U.S. president would be portrayed onstage in a musical, so it was quite controversial to present the leader of the free world as a song-and-dance man. Still, Cohan triumphed in the part, which forms the basis for the opening of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. The film suggests that Cohan went down to the White House right away -- but, in fact, Cohan waited for another 4 years until he was in Washington, D.C. -- during the out-of-town tryout of his final play THE RETURN OF THE VAGABOND (1940) -- to meet with FDR and receive his medal. From all accounts, Cohan turned on his Irish charm and the meeting went off with incident. In the film, FDR greets Cohan with the words, "How's my double?" -- which, apparently, is a direct quote from their encounter.