History, Politics, and Bluegrass: “New White House Blues”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mark Kilianski is one half of Golden Shoals, an Americana, bluegrass and old-time group. He wrote this essay about the history behind their latest single, out today (Jan. 17), “New White House Blues.” 

I’ve always loved the bluegrass and old-time standard “White House Blues.” It’s a stone cold banger about the assassination of president William McKinley in 1901. The short and simple form makes it ideal for passing around solos in a big jam, especially at a good clip. From Charlie Poole to Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Del Mccoury, all the best have great versions of this song. It’s rowdy, it’s historical, it’s everything I love about Bluegrass music.

I play guitar, banjo, and sing in a duo called Golden Shoals. Along with Amy Alvey on fiddle, guitar, and vocals, we play traditional (mostly Appalachian) string band music, and original music that often takes heavy influence from that tradition. I particularly like to write topical songs, diving into research on a particular subject, and synthesizing the most important or relevant facts into a 3 to 5 minute song. Hearing and singing “White House Blues” countless times over the years, I’ve been curious for some time to dig deeper into that moment in history.

I felt a sequel would be the perfect project to bring to explore with Golden Shoals.

I learned years ago that McKinley’s death was the reason Teddy Roosevelt ended up in office, assuming the position after McKinley’s assassination. The powers that be put him in the politically weak role of Vice President to keep him from meddling in their cronyism with banks and oil companies, but their plan backfired. Roosevelt’s tenure was a very consequential era for worker, consumer, and environmental protections. 

One curious feature of “White House Blues” is that the song never mentions the assassin, Leon Czolgosz (SHOAL-gosh), or his motives. What possesses a person to do such a thing? Did he have co-conspirators? And what was his goal in carrying out such an extreme action? Unlike other presidential assassins, it’s hard to find information about the man, but it’s out there. In my research, I discovered that Czolgosz was an awkward, unlucky young man who was disillusioned by the American dream. He very much matches the profiles of today’s mass shooters and lone wolf assassins, most notably Luigi Mangione.

The son of Polish immigrants, Czolgosz moved from job to job in factories, getting consistently laid off due to the economic depression of the 1890’s. When he could not find support or solace at church, he turned to politics for answers. But even there he didn’t make friends. An anarchist newsletter marked him as a federal spy because of his awkward nature and eagerness to be accepted by Emma Goldman (the foremost anarchist revolutionary, activist, and writer of the day).

Czolgosz latched onto a popular concept at the time: “Propaganda of the deed.” The idea was that one big dramatic political action could usher in a massive revolution. It’s strangely individualist for a political segment that typically touts the power of collective action, and it’s a very attractive idea for an isolated, desperate person who wants to make a difference in the world.

There’s a curious thread I’ve noticed in the earliest recorded string band music, including the first recording of “White House Blues” by Charlie Poole in 1926. The band starts at a certain tempo and speeds up consistently, almost imperceptibly, always together and grooving, until a minute or two later, if you’ve been listening closely, you realize the music is way faster than when it started. To the modern Bluegrass musician, highly trained and beholden to the metronome, this is a radical arrangement technique.

Recording “New White House Blues” with a standard Old Time 4-piece (fiddle, clawhammer banjo, guitar, and bass), we used the gradual speed-up to pay homage to the old timers, namely Charlie Poole. The resulting sound alludes to the building tension of the inequities of the Gilded Age, and the rage of a working man in his prime, left behind by American Dream. The music reaches fever pitch at the Temple of Music at the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo in 1901, when Czolgosz makes his fateful move. Then the band explodes into an episode of leaderless improvisation before coalescing again for the main melody line.

I couldn’t find a shred of evidence pointing toward conspiracy in the McKinley assassination. Czolgosz acted alone, but this still leaves me wondering – did he accomplish his goal? Roosevelt was a crusader for the people, right? I’ve already got enough material for a song at this point, but I can’t resist the chance to analyze the legacy of the least criticized president in American history.

Because Roosevelt wrote his own history, even professional historians have trouble taking a sober look at this man’s accomplishments. His trust-busting efforts look heroic, but ultimately the companies found loopholes and kept bilking consumers. He instituted the National Park system, but removed native people from their ancestral land to do so. He decried journalists who exposed the inhumane working conditions in factories. He had the Panama Canal built, but had to stir up a war and install a friendly government to do it. And construction took the lives of some 20,000 workers.

According to Carlos F. MacDonald’s account of Czolgosz’s trial and execution, his stated motive for killing president McKinley was because “he was the enemy of the good people, the good working people.” Roosevelt in the White House didn’t do much good for working people, and there was no revolution. So much for propaganda of the deed.

I managed to squeeze most of these thoughts into 9 verses of “New White House Blues,” along with some wild facts. Facts like Czolgosz, on death row, refusing to repent despite 45 minutes of a priest’s begging, Edison trying to film the electric chair execution to show the power of electricity (he was not allowed to do so, but staged a reenactment instead), the undertaker being instructed to destroy the corpse with acid so Czolgosz could not be dug up and martyred.

I could write 20 more verses and make it a Dylanesque epic (maybe I will someday), but instead I call wrap it up at 10, with an explicit moral. Individual action can indeed be powerful, but it will never fix our world’s fundamental problems. Czolgosz’s motives resonate with me. Mangione’s motives resonate with me. I like to see the powerful scared. I like to see people expressing their disdain for greedy corporations and selfish politicians. But without collective action, real change will never come. 

When you put out a song like this you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is. I just joined United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW), a new kind of union that organizes and advocates for musicians, and stands in solidarity with workers of all kinds. Let’s have 2025 be the year we add our individual bodies, minds, and voices to mass movements for positive change.