By: Lizzie Yang
Edited By: Max Edelstein
“Sometimes you hit the right note, sometimes you don’t. But all the practice makes for beautiful music, and that is symbolic for everything that you all will do in your lives,” addressed Vice President Kamala Harris last month to young musicians at the Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia. She had confessed to the school’s marching band that she, too, played the French horn in her high school band years ago. Now, as the Democratic presidential nominee running against former President Donald Trump, this moment of connection with the next generation is unfolding in a room full of brass and percussion sounds. Little would the teenaged Harris know, trying to hit the right note while marching, that one day she would make a historic entrance at the Democratic National Convention early this month to Beyoncé’s empowering song, “Freedom.”
Music has played a pivotal role in U.S. presidential campaigns, setting the tone, reinforcing key messages with lyrics written or sung by carefully chosen artists to resonate with their voter demographics. Former Donald Trump’s rally playlist famously includes “YMCA” by Village People (note the emphasis on “Young Man!”) and “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood with patriotic tunes blasting American spirits. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton battled against Trump in 2016 with energizing tracks like “Roar” by Katy Perry and “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten. The curated list of tunes create an immediate connection with the voters and brand the candidates with a distinct “vibe.”
Music as a language beyond words also serves as a soft power tool that nurtures international relationships and ease tensions between nation-states when used correctly. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise appearance at a bar in Kyiv, Ukraine in May 2024, where he strummed a guitar with a Ukrainian band, playing the Neil Young song “Rockin’ in the Free World.” His performance followed a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding U.S. aid to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. On stage, Blinken addressed the audience, “the United States is with you, so much of the world is with you. And they’re fighting, not just for Ukraine but for the free world – and the free world is with you too.” It was a personal demonstration of the effort to build bridges through music and showing support in a war-torn country in the midst of a geopolitical crisis.
Living his musical life under the pseudonym, Ablinken, Secretary Blinken has carried his musical passion into his career. In 2023, Secretary Blinken announced the launching of the State Department-led Global Music Diplomacy Initiative “to support inclusive economic growth, to expand access to education, and to build more resilient societies.” The initiative is an extension of President Biden’s Music Diplomacy Act that calls upon the State Department to use international public-private partnerships to support music diplomacy to frequent cross-cultural exchanges thereby advancing a message of peace globally .
Another U.S. politician to show off instrumental talent in a diplomatic environment was former President Bill Clinton. Former President Clinton played saxophone alongside Czech jazz musicians at the Reduta Jazz Club in Prague in January of 1994. The live performance came after attending the NATO summit in Brussels that laid the grounds for Czech Republic’s admission to NATO. In fact the former President returned to the very bar in March 2024 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Czechia’s admission to NATO and said, “It is wonderful to be back. It was one of the most memorable trips in my life. I miss Vaclav Havel. We were good friends. I was glad to see Dagmar, his wife and her daughter here tonight, and a lot of other good friends. The music was great as always,” in his interview with CNN.
The list of musically talented U.S. leaders goes on. Another Rock-n-roller is the former Secretary of State and former U.S. Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, who released an album called in 1961 as a bassist with a band, “John Kerry and the Electras.” The former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, claims she could read music before she could read text and became a concert pianist at the age of 15 before she went to college as a music major. She maintained her finesse as a pianist throughout her public diplomacy career as a Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, sharing the stage with world-renowned musicians like Aretha Franklin and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
“Music is a way for all of us to show who we are, where we come from, what we love, and also to learn the same about other people. That’s true of people. It’s also true of countries,” said Secretary Blinken at the launch of the Global Music Initiative. While Blinken’s Rock-n-Roll spirit or Kamala Harris’s musical roots aren’t central to the political and diplomatic career as representatives of the United States, the demonstration of soft power is evident in their use of music as a tool to foster connections. The future of America’s foreign policy hopefully continues to embrace music as a strategic diplomatic device, stirring cooperation beyond words.