Dolly Parton was the one thing most Americans could agree on

"She is the one person who straddles political divides… the so-called culture wars," said Sarah Phillips, who teaches an Anthropology of Dolly Parton course at Indiana University - and still finds it hard to speak about the singer in the past tense.

So when Joe Biden offered it to her a few years later, she felt she had to decline as well, otherwise it would look like she had a preference for one over the other.

Public interest in Parton's views began many years ago, when she made it clear to anyone listening that she was not a cookie-cutter country singer.