My column this week looks at how the public image of the U.S. President has the capacity to influence how we think not just of the person but of the office itself, no matter what century it is.  Here’s how it starts:

The US presidency is much on people’s minds these days, to put it mildly, and there’s a lot of talk about what kind of image the current occupant of that office is putting forward.  While Trump may be a different style of President in many ways, what really isn’t new is the interest in how the public image of the President shapes our attitude toward the job he holds.

(In it I mention two books, The Painter’s Chair, and Popular Images of the Presidency.)  Read the whole thing HERE.

Gilbert Stuart, George Washington, 1796, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution