TOPIC A : Hail to the Musical Chief

The swearing--in of saxophonist--in--chief Bill Clinton makes him the eighth musical President . Besides Cal Coolidge on harmonica, John Tyler on fiddle and J. Q. Adams on flute, we’ve had:

* Tommy (He Fiddled While the Colonies Burned) Jefferson: Jefferson wrote a friend in 1778 that “music . . . is the favorite passion of my soul, and fortune has cast my lot in a country where it is in a state of deplorable barbarism.” According to one biographer, Jefferson practiced up to three hours a day for the 12 years leading up to the Revolution.

* Warren (Bebop) Harding: His prize possession was the B-flat cornet. After a house painter (a man of many talents who also served as leader of the local band) taught the young Harding to play, Warren became one of the boys in the band.

* Harry (Piano Man) Truman: When Ignace Paderewski came through town, young Harry’s piano teacher took him backstage to meet the great one, who in turn taught Truman to play a difficult passage of one of his minuets. Truman later played the piece for Josef Stalin.

* Richard (Tricky Fingers) Nixon: “I have always had two great--and unfulfilled--ambitions,” the other piano-playing Prez wrote in his 1978 memoirs. “To direct a symphony orchestra, and to play an organ in a cathedral.” Well, he did become a recording star, of sorts.