Mr. President (musical)

Mr. President
Original Cast Recording
Music	Irving Berlin
Lyrics	Irving Berlin
Book	Howard Lindsay Russel Crouse
Productions	1962 Broadway

Mr. President is a musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The story focuses on US President Stephen Decatur Henderson, who runs into political trouble following a disastrous trip to the Soviet Union and his problems with his children. Bored with life as a civilian after his presidency ends, he decides to return to political life.

The original 1962 Broadway production ran for 265 performances. The piece was Irving Berlin's last musical.

The show had its first out-of-town tryout in Boston beginning on August 27, 1962 and was coolly received. After extensive cuts and revisions, it was given another tryout at the National Theatre in Washington, DC, which was attended by President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy. The first couple congratulated Berlin on a hit. Kennedy later sent his aides, Kenneth P. O'Donnell and David Powers, the two toppers in Kennedy's "Irish Mafia," to apologize for his having to leave the performance early. This day of Kennedy's presidency is the one featured in an exhibit at the JFK Museum and Library. The Washington reviews, however, "were lukewarm and even negative. The word "corny" stuck, and was repeated again and again."

After four previews, the Broadway production, directed by Joshua Logan and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, opened on October 20, 1962 at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 265 performances. The cast included Robert Ryan, Nanette Fabray, Anita Gillette and Baayork Lee. The musical premiered in a Broadway season dominated by hits like Oliver!, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Stop the World – I Want to Get Off. Mr. President received lukewarm reviews. Although Berlin's score was praised, the show "was just too old-fashioned and out of date." Berlin continued to work, revising Annie Get Your Gun and writing songs, such as for the film project Say It With Music (which was not produced), but "Broadway would never again see a truly Berlin work on the stage". The musical also saw the end of the Lindsay and Crouse collaboration.