Plodding through the Presidents

Recent Posts

• Can You Spot James Monroe in These 3 Famous Paintings?

  28 Apr, 2016 - 07:23 am

  James Monroe is the Waldo of historic masterpieces.James Monroe played a role in several major world events before becoming America's fifth president, but he doesn’t get the same love his fellow founders do. History, and art, tend to put him in the background.I want to take him out of the...

• Book Review: Mary Lincoln's Flannel Pajamas

  07 Apr, 2016 - 01:21 am

  A peek under the First Ladies' veils I never gave much thought to how society judges women by their clothes.And by society, I mean me.During a recent presidential debate, I didn’t think twice about tweeting that Hillary Clinton’s suit resembled the outfit from Kill Bill. Then I saw this tweet:...

• Madison vs. Monroe: A Field Guide to Jameses

  23 Mar, 2016 - 06:18 pm

  How to tell a James Madison from a James Monroe in the wildThe James Madison and the James Monroe in their natural habitat.The fourth and fifth presidents of the United States, James Madison and James Monroe, have so much in common it’s easy to get them confused. This handy field guide helps you...

• 8 Things James Madison Loved

  15 Feb, 2016 - 02:50 pm

  James Madison was notoriously private, and his legacy is defined by his fatherhood of the Constitution. As important as that is, I'm more intrigued by the skills and passions that breathe life into his stuffy portraits, and his stern little action figure. These are eight of the things that James...

• My Interview with The Washington Post

  07 Feb, 2016 - 06:14 am

  The dirty details that weren't fit to print.I'm excited to share that Plodding through the Presidents was mentioned in this week's Washington Post Magazine article "44 Presidents, 43 biographies, one surprising takeaway."The story is about reporter Justin Moyer’s endeavor to read a biography of...