“It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question [of] whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.  If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.  This idea will add the inducements of philanthropy to those of patriotism, to heighten the solicitude which all considerate and good men must feel for the event. Happy will it be if our choice should be directed by a judicious estimate of our true interests, unperplexed and unbiased by considerations not connected with the public good. But this is a thing more ardently to be wished than seriously to be expected.”

Alexander Hamilton, from Federalist #1

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

My column this week began when I listened to the Lake Air Middle School band program play its end-of-the-year concert.  Students who take part in school music programs have their cultural horizons broadened in ways other students miss.  Read the whole thing HERE.

My latest essay at the LearnLiberty blog looks at pop culture, both in terms of its positive contributions to the broader culture and its negative ones.  Read the whole thing HERE.