Newsletter #1

On Assassinations and Blank Slates

Due to the tough Missouri winters, January is usually a pretty uneventful month. Of course, becoming a father on the 12th kind of threw cold water on that whole notion!

Learning with Dead Presidents

Recently, I finally read a book that had lingered on my list far too long: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (Anchor, 2012). Candice Millard has distinguished herself as an energetic writer of history, and this treatment of the assassination of President James Garfield exemplifies this.

(As an aside, I read multiple presidential biographies/autobiographies each year. It’s surely guilty pleasure reading. But it often confirms my working theory of presidential history, which is that people often overstate the accomplishments of some presidents, and understate the accomplishments of many. Be wary of “great presidents lists” produced by newspaper editorial boards and presidential historians. We’re all shaped by our understanding of the proper role …