The Presidents Song (Animaniacs)

"The Presidents Song" is a song from the seventy-fifth episode (year 1995) of Animaniacs. It is sung by the Warners, describing the first forty-two Presidents of the United States from George Washington to Bill Clinton. The lyrics were written by Randy Rogel. It is also the 12th track on the album "Variety Pack," and contains lyrics that were originally written for the song, but did not end up in the show.

Most of the song is set to the tune of the finale of Giachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture"; the line "A war! A war south down in Dixie!" is to the tune of "Dixie."

## Lyrics

* Show
* Album

**Yakko**:
*Heigh Ho, do you know*
*The names of the US residents*
*Who then became the presidents*
*And got a view from the White House loo*
*Of Pennsylvania Avenue?*
**Wakko**:
*George Washington was the first, you see,*
*He once chopped down a cherry tree.*
**Dot**:
*President number two would be*
*John Adams, and then number three...*
**Yakko**:
*Tom Jefferson stayed up to write*
*A declaration late at night*
*So he and his wife had a great big fight*
*And she made him sleep on the couch all night*
**Wakko**:
*James Madison never had a son*
*And he fought the War of 1812*
**Dot**:
*James Monroe's colossal nose*
*Was bigger than Pinocchio's*
**Yakko**:
*John Quincy Adams was number six*
*And it's Andrew Jackson's butt he kicks*
*So Jackson learns to play politics.*
*Next time, he's the one that the country picks*
**Dot**:
*Martin Van Buren, number eight*
*For a one-term shot as chief of state*
**Yakko**:
*William Harrison, how do ya praise?*
*That guy was dead in thirty days!*
**Wakko**:
*Old John Tyler he liked country folk...*
**Dot**:
*And after him came President Polk*
**Yakko**:
*Zachary Taylor liked to smoke*
*His breath killed friends whenever he spoke*
**Wakko**:
*1850, really nifty*
*Millard Fillmore's in*
**Yakko**:
*Young and fierce was Franklin Pierce,*
*The man without a chin*
**Dot**:
*Follows next a period spannin'*
*Four long years with James Buchanan*
*Then the south starts shootin' cannon*
*And we got a Civil War*
**The Warners**:
*A war!*
*A war down south in Dixie!*
**Yakko**:
*Up to bat comes old Abe Lincoln*
**Dot**:
*There's a guy who's really thinkin'!*
**Wakko**:
*Kept the United States from shrinkin'*
*Saved the ship of state from sinkin'!*
**Dot**:
*Andrew Johnson's next*
*He had some slight defects*
**Wakko**:
*Congress each would impeach...*
**Dot**:
*And so the country now elects...*
**Yakko**:
*Ulysses Simpson Grant,*
*Who would scream and rave and rant...*
**Wakko**:
*While drinkin' whiskey, although risky,*
*Cause he'd spill it on his pants*
**Yakko**:
*It's 1877 and the Democrats would gloat*
*But they're all amazed when Rutherford Hayes*
*Wins by just one vote*
**Dot**:
*James Garfield someone really hated*
*Cause he was assassinated*
**Wakko**:
*Chester Arthur gets instated*
*Four years later, he was traded...*
**Dot**:
*For Grover Cleveland, really fat,*
*Elected twice as a Democrat*
*Then Benjamin Harrison, after that,*
*It's William McKinley up to bat*
**Yakko**:
*Teddy Roosevelt charged up San Juan Hill*
**Wakko**:
*And President Taft, he got the bill*
**Yakko**:
*In 1913, Woodrow...*
**The Warners**:
*Wilson*
*So, takes us into World War I*
**Yakko**:
*Warren Harding, next in line.*
**Dot**:
*It's Calvin Coolidge, he does fine.*
**Wakko**:
*And then in 1929,*
*The market crashes and we find...*
**Yakko**:
*It's Herbert Hoover's big debut*
*He gets the blame and loses to...*
**Dot**:
*Franklin Roosevelt, President who*
*Helped us win in World War II*
**Wakko**:
*Harry Truman, weird little human,*
*Serves two terms and when he's done...*
**Yakko**:
*It's Eisenhower who's got the power*
*From '53 to '61*
**Dot**:
*John Kennedy had Camelot*
*Then Lyndon Johnson took his spot*
**Yakko**:
*Richard Nixon, he gets caught*
*And Gerald Ford fell down a lot*
**Wakko**:
*Jimmy Carter liked campaign trips*
**Yakko**:
*And Ronald Reagan's speeches' scripts*
*All came from famous movie clips*
*And President Bush said, "Read my lips"*
**Dot**:
*Now in Washington, DC...*
**Wakko**:
*There's Democrats and the GOP...*
**Yakko**:
*But the ones in charge are plain to see...*
**Dot**:
*The Clintons, Bill and Hillary!*
**Yakko**:
*The next President to lead the way,*
*Well, it might just be yourself one day.*
*Then the press'll distort everything you say...*
**The Warners**:
*So jump in your plane and fly away!*

**Yakko**:
*Heigh ho, do you know*
*The names of the U.S. residents*
*And then became the Presidents*
*And got a view from the White House loo*
*Of Pennsylvania Avenue?*
*George Washington was the first, you see*
*He once chopped down a cherry tree*
**Dot**:
*President number two would be*
*John Adams, and then number three...*
**Yakko**:
*Tom Jefferson stayed up to write*
*The Constitution late at night*
*So he and his wife had a great big fight*
*And she made him sleep on the couch all night*
**Wakko**:
*James Madison never had a son*
*And he fought the War of 1812*
**Dot**:
*James Monroe's colossal nose*
*Was bigger than Pinocchio's*
**Yakko**:
*John Quincy Adams was number six*
*And it's Andrew Jackson's butt he kicks*
*So Jackson learns to play politics*
*Next time, he's the one that the country picks*
**Dot**:
*Martin van Buren, number eight*
*For a one-term shot as chief of state*
**Yakko**:
*William Harrison, how do ya praise?*
*That guy was dead in thirty days!*
**Wakko**:
*Old John Tyler he liked country folk...*
**Dot**:
*And after him came President Polk*
**Yakko**:
*Zachary Taylor liked to smoke*
*His breath killed friends whenever he spoke*
**Wakko**:
*1850, really nifty,*
*Millard Fillmore's in*
**Yakko**:
*Young and fierce was Franklin Pierce,*
*The man without a chin*
**Dot**:
*Followin' next a period spannin'*
*Four long years with James Buchanan*
*Then the south starts shootin' cannons*
*And we got a Civil War*
**The Warners**:
*A war!*
*A war down south in Dixie!*
**Yakko**:
*Up to bat comes old Abe Lincoln*
**Dot**:
*There's a guy who's really thinkin'!*
**Wakko**:
*Kept the United States from shrinkin'*
*Saved the ship of state from sinkin'!*
**Dot**:
*Andrew Johnson's next,*
*He had some slight defects*
**Wakko**:
*Congress each would impeach...*
**Dot**:
*And so the country now elects...*
**Yakko**:
*Ulysses Simpson Grant,*
*Who would scream and rave and rant...*
**Wakko**:
*While drinkin' whiskey, although risky,*
*Cause he'd spill it on his pants*
**Yakko**:
*It's 1877 and the Democrats would gloat*
*But they're all amazed when Rutherford Hayes*
*Wins by just one vote*
**Dot**:
*James Garfield someone really hated*
*Cause he was assassinated*
**Wakko**:
*Chester Arthur gets instated*
*Four years later, he was traded...*
**Dot**:
*For Grover Cleveland, really fat,*
*Elected twice as a Democrat*
*Then Benjamin Harrison, after that,*
*It's William McKinley up to bat*
**Yakko**:
*Teddy Roosevelt charged up San Juan Hill*
**Wakko**:
*And President Taft, he got the bill*
**Yakko**:
*In 1913, Woodrow...*
**The Warners**:
*Wilson*
*Takes us into World War I!*
**Yakko**:
*Warren Harding, he does fine*
**Dot**:
*It's Calvin Coolidge next in line*
**Wakko**:
*And then in 1929*
*The market crashes and we find...*
**Yakko**:
*It's Herbert Hoover's big debut*
*He gets the blame and loses to...*
**Dot**:
*Franklin Roosevelt, President who*
*Helped us win in World War II*
**Wakko**:
*Harry Truman, weird little human,*
*Serves two terms and when he's done...*
**Yakko**:
*It's Eisenhower who's got the power*
*From '53 to '61*
**Dot**:
*John F. Kennedy, he got shot,*
*So Lyndon Johnson takes his spot*
**Yakko**:
*Richard Nixon, he gets caught*
*And Gerald Ford fell down a lot*
**Wakko**:
*Jimmy Carter liked campaign trips*
**Yakko**:
*And Ronald Reagan's speeches' scripts*
*All came from famous movie clips,*
*And President Bush said, "Read my lips"*
**Dot**:
*Now in Washington, DC...*
**Wakko**:
*There's Democrats and the GOP...*
**Yakko**:
*But the one in charge, it's plain to see...*
**Dot**:
*It's Clinton, first name Hillary!*
**Yakko**:
*The next President to lead the way,*
*Well, it might just be yourself one day*
*Then the press'll distort everything you say...*
**The Warners**:
*So jump in your plane and fly away!*
## Errors/Inaccuracies

* Not all the presidents lived in the White House. George Washington oversaw its construction, but John Adams was the first one to move in, at which point it hadn’t even been completed yet.
* The story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree is a well known fable, but there is no record of it actually happening.
* Thomas Jefferson did not solely write the Declaration of Independence. He was responsible for writing the first draft, but it was amended by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Also, the Declaration was ratified 25 years before Jefferson took office.
* Jefferson's wife, Martha, likely didn't make him sleep on the couch after a big fight. She was severely ill after having a miscarriage around Jefferson's penning of the Declaration of Independence, and had died before Jefferson became president, which Jefferson’s daughter, who was also named Martha acted as First Lady. The addition in the song was most likely done for humorous proposes and to help continue the song.
* While James Madison never had a son of his own, he did gain one through marriage.
* JQA didn't really "kick Andrew Jackson's butt". Andrew Jackson actually won more votes than John Quincy Adams in the 1824 election. However, neither of them gained a majority, so the President was chosen by the House of Representatives, who picked Adams and some convincing by an-ex candidate, Henry Clay.
* William Henry Harrison's actually died 31 days after his inauguration instead of 30
* Zachary Taylor is shown to be fellow Mexican-American war general Winfield Scott who attempted to run for President in 1852 but lost.
* There is no evidence that Taylor ever smoked to the extent that the song stated.
* Millard Fillmore is widely considered to have been one of the worst US Presidents, so most historians would be unlikely to describe him as "really nifty."
* The Confederacy's hostilities to the Union towards the end of James Buchanan’s presidency were not solely targeted towards Buchanan himself, as the song suggests by the south’s cannons allegedly being aimed at him.
* If the score on the scoreboard was meant to represent states in the Civil War, it would be highly inaccurate as the Confederacy only ever held 11 states and the Union held 23. Not only that, but 16+15=31. There were 34 states in 1861 and during the Civil War that number grew to 36, with West Virginia and Nevada being admitted into the Union.
* Andrew Johnson was impeached but was ultimately not removed from office, despite the song implying the contrary.
* The S in Ulysses Grant's name didn't stand for "Simpson," or any name for that matter. His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, which was mis-transcribed as Ulysses S. Grant at West Point, an error he tried to correct but ended up going with.
* Most historians agree that Grant didn't actually drink very much, despite him being widely accepted as being alcoholic.
* Rutherford B. Hayes’ one-vote victory is displayed in the song as being 8 to 7. The actual Electoral College vote was 185 to 184.
* Grover Cleveland's two terms were non-consecutive, either side of Benjamin Harrison's, which means Harrison was not immediately followed by William McKinley as stated in the song.
* Theodore Roosevelt's charge up San Juan Hill was three years before he took office.
* World War I didn't start until 1914, and the US didn't enter the war until 1917, by which time the battles listed: the Battle of Gallipoli, the Somme and Verdun had already happened with the United States never took part in with the exception of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which while all liste. The battles are also not in the right order. The Battle of Gallipoli took place from February 19, 1915 to January 9, 1916; the Battle of Verdun took place on February 21 to December 18, 1916; the Battle of the Somme took place on July 1 to November 13, 1916; and the Meuse-Argonne Offense took place on September 26 to November 11, 1918.
* The song implies that the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred before Hoover's presidency, when it occurred during.
* While FDR brought the US into World War II, the war didn't end until September 2nd, 1945 and by then he had already died and Harry Truman was in office.
* Gerald Ford is only known to have fallen down on one occasion, supposedly due to a knee injury. It is likely exaggerated here for comical/rhyming value. The lyric was most likely referring to Chevy Chase's portrayal on Saturday Night Live.

### Album version

* Thomas Jefferson did not participate in the writing of the Constitution as he was in France at the time.
* Although Calvin Coolidge's presidency is debated by historians, most consider his predecessor, Warren G. Harding to be one of the worst presidents in American history, so the switch in the album version of the song describing Harding as "doing fine" would be inaccurate.
* Hillary Clinton was never president although she was a candidate in the 2016 elections, but she ultimately lost to Donald Trump.