Within the dreaded currency of American history, and a moment where midterm elections may by “handled” by the right, it is important — perhaps even comforting — to note that once upon a time, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, the trumpeter who put bebop on the map with his rhythmic overdrive, harmonic intricacy, smooth scatting and puffed cheeks, actually ran for President.
Not his bop co-creator Charlie Parker, but Diz, an entertainingly absurd gentleman who likely only threw his hat — in Gillespie’s case, a beret — for a laugh, yet managed to get a fair amount of real attention for his presidential aspirations.
Starting with The Hole, a 1962 animated short with Dizzy and actor George Matthews as its stars, Gillespie began to show real interest in issues beyond jazz, in working from the point of an improvised argument debating the possibilities of a Dr. Strangelove-like accidental nuclear launch. Gillespie became an Oscar winner when The Hole received as Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1963.
Perhaps bolstered by such socially conscious fame, when it came time for the 1964 United States presidential campaign — held barely one year after the assassination of John F. Kennedy — Dizzy entered a race that included incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson and Senator Hubert Humphrey versus the Republican ticket of Senator Barry Goldwater and Congressman William E. Miller.
Dizzy’s platform: the promotion of civil rights and social change.
Dizzy’s campaign slogan: “Because we need one.”
Dizzy’s campaign manager: jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason.
Dizzy’s campaign song: What else? “Salt Peanuts,” with new lyrics, and a new title, “Vote Dizzy.”
According to author Clarence Lusane’s 2013 work The Black History of the White House (City Lights, 2011), Gillespie was an honest-to-goodness candidate (as opposed to a goofy publicity stunt or performance art), with a goal of “taking advantage of the votes and publicity I’d receive to promote change.” Additionally, Gillespie sought to provide housing and hospital care and called for withdrawal of American troops from continued fighting during the Vietnam War.
Putting himself forward as an independent write-in candidate, Diz promised to rename the White House the Blues House and fill his cabinet with fellow jazz icons such as Duke Ellington (Secretary of State), Miles Davis (Director of the CIA), Max Roach (Secretary of Defense), Charles Mingus (Secretary of Peace), Louis Armstrong (Secretary of Agriculture), Mary Lou Williams (Ambassador to the Vatican) and Thelonious Monk (Travelling Ambassador). While Gillespie made room for the Genius — Ray Charles to be the Chief Librarian of Congress — and activist Malcolm X to become Diz’s Attorney General, the trumpeter looked outside of music and activism to name his Vice Presidential running mate: comedienne Phyllis Diller.
A one-time booking agent of Gillespie’s actually made up “Dizzy Gillespie for President” buttons as a practical joke. Still, when it came to 1964, Gillespie signed up to run for president and set up his campaign funding (proceeds eventually went to Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight for equality, along with the Congress of Racial Equality and Southern Christian Leadership Conference). His supporters, the John Birks Society — named for Gillespie’s first and middle names, a play on the far-right John Birch Society — wrote to California’s Secretary of State to accept Gillespie as an independent candidate. More than a few states (25 to be exact) expressed real interest in pushing Gillespie and his agenda toward a genuine 1964 presidential run.
Gillespie dropped out of the race with the win going to Johnson (who declined to run again in 1968, opening the door to Nixon), but ran again in 1971 — or at least he said he would — with Ramona Crowell, a member of the Sioux tribe, chosen by Gillespie as his potential VP.
For anyone wondering how American history may have changed with a bebop presidency, consider Johnson’s inability to dislodge America from Vietnam, Nixon’s Watergate and the disintegration of trust in all things coming from the White House starting in 1964. A Blues House certainly would have been better. JT