I heard recently at our folksong weekend that this song was often played for FDR because one night a group of reporters (perhaps the group you alluded to, Joe) asked him what his favorite song was. FDR is reported to have blurted out the first song that came to mind and after that it was played for him almost everywhere he went. I'm told he later confided to a friend that he hated that song but didn't know how to get out of it. TonyK from NE Pa