The O'Zone | Dizzy For President: The Gillespie Presidency
When Dizzy Gillespie embarked on a campaign to be elected President of the United States in 1964, he took his candidacy more seriously than everyone else. In honor of his birthday, we revisit this moment in history.
A satire started by his booking agency, the campaign was an attempt to nail down a four year or even eight year gig. Diz understood that as a result of his candidacy, he suddenly had a platform to speak out on issues.
Though back then he wasn’t considered a serious candidate, much has changed….
A Black man for president? Back then it seemed it would never happen in America.
A non-politician? Seriously…it seemed unlikely to ever happen. But now, both have come to pass.
What if he had become Mister President: beating LBJ and Goldwater, making 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue “The Blues House”?
A lot of “what if” segments will pepper this missive.
IT’S FICTION, BABY! Based on some actual events.
The Day Diz Threw His Beret Into the Ring
(Dateline: Los Angeles) Today jazz trumpeter John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie announced he is running for the office of President of the United States of America. From DOWNBEAT published November 5, 1964…
Here are segments of his press conference:
Q: In your campaign, do you have any specific criticisms of the platforms of the two major parties? If so, what are they?
A: First things come first. First, civil rights. I think that some of the major civil rights groups are on the wrong track. The real issue of civil rights is not the idea of discrimination in itself but the system that led to the discrimination, such as the schools – the teaching in the schools. They don’t teach kids about the dignity of all men everywhere. They say that there should be education. Okay. I say education yes; but the white people are the ones who should be educated into how to treat every man.
And the system of discrimination started during slavery time – with the slaves– it’s an economic thing. Of course we don’t have that slave system at the moment, but we do have something in its place, such as discrimination against people economically.
Economics is the key to the whole thing. For example, if all my followers said that we weren’t going to buy one single product for three days, think what would happen to the stock on that one product on the stock market in one day. It would drop drastically – boom! They would hurry up and protect the investors; they would hurry up to rectify a gross injustice.
Q: How many people do you think would be in this, in terms of purchasing power – 20 million…30 million?
A: There are millions and millions of right-thinking people in this country.
Q: Not just Negro people?
A: Not just Negro people. No, no.
Q: Then you’d probably get 60 million to go along with you?
A: I’d like to see that…60 million people wouldn’t buy a product for three days…There would be bedlam on the stock market. And they would hurry up and do something about this…thing [discrimination].
Q: As one of our most prominent musicians, you are aware that automation has played the devil with musicians’ livelihoods. What would your policy be on automation?
A: Automation will never replace the musician himself. We would have to set up some kind of thing to protect the musician from that.
NOTE: It seems like, through today's eyes, they were talking about Artificial Intelligence, but the automation they were referring to was jukeboxes (which were replacing live music in bars and clubs at the time). For the record, AI could never capture ebullience, and the way improvisation begets more improvisation. No artificial intelligence could capture the DIZZINESS.
For example, this is “Kush”, an epic live recording. It’s 16 minutes of awesomeness!
SLOGANS and PHRASES
During the campaign, a few slogans emerged:
VOTE DIZZY…I would LOVE to have a yard sign with THIS slogan on it.
VOTE DIZZY & WALK STRAIGHT
A way to make politics groovier was hip merch. There was plenty of it, and shirts, buttons, and hats brought in money for the civil rights movement. This slogan was very popular.
DIZZY FOR PRESIDENT
These buttons sold like crazy, and the money went to the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
THE FREER THE JAZZ, THE FREER THE PEOPLE
A phrase that summed up Gillespie’s philosophy, drawing a parallel between the freedom of jazz and the need for civil liberties.
I’M RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT BECAUSE WE NEED ONE
Needs no further explanation.
Ultimately, like democracy, jazz requires musicians to think quickly, embrace change, and challenge the status quo. In jazz each musician has their own individual voice but they come together to create something greater than themselves. The way individual rights exist within the framework of the government.
These qualities would be useful in a leadership role.
A FICTION: A WIN FOR THE JOHN BIRKS SOCIETY
On street corners, the reaction was mixed but always full of surprise, depending on the people talking. It’s 1964.
“John Birch? He won??”
“No No John Birks not John Birch, John Birks Gillespie”
“The jazz musician who plays trumpet, Dizzy Gillespie.”
“The guy from the Dobie Gillis show? He’s a fictional character a Beat Nik a BeBopper”
“Real enough to win. The first negro to be elected president”
“A NEGRO?!?!?!”
In a corner diner somewhere in the heartland…
“What’ll it be boys?”
“Eggs over easy and bacon”
“Hey turn up the TV! Did you hear? They got in the recount on the election”
“This is a special news bulletin…Walter Cronkite reporting
In a shocking turn of events following several recounts Lyndon Johnson has lost his bid for reelection….”
“Goldwater won huh?”
“SHHH LISTEN”
“CBS news reports the 37th president is jazz musician
John Birks Gillespie….”
“DIZZY?!?!?”
A mix of cheers, groans and a platter of eggs hits the floor.
On a tour bus on I-70
“Duke, he said he wants you to be Secretary of State”
“Not me, I have a job,”
“I heard Miles Davis will be the new head of the CIA”
“Well what do you know about that?”
THE CAMPAIGN’S LEGACY
A jazz cabinet at the Blues House?
What started as a tongue-in-[massive] cheek satirical write-in campaign became an important Civil Rights moment.
Diz didn’t miss an opportunity to use the platform to speak out on issues of the day, all the while reaching Americans about things they may have otherwise ignored.
Not unlike his other innovations, BeBop and Latin Jazz, Dizzy brought political satire to future runs for President: from Frank Zappa and Pat Paulson to Alice Cooper and Stephen Colbert. Dizzy Gillespie became a worldwide figurehead, an award winner, and a Nigerian Prince.
Welcome to the Dizzy Atmosphere!
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