president’s day

But what about George Washington’s mom

It is important and poignant to recall the hard life of Mary Ball Washington, who struggled – mostly alone – to raise our Founding Father. Historians have left us with inaccurate and mostly unpleasant accounts of her long and laborious years. After George Washington’s death, historians canonized him and his mother, too. But unlike George’s enduring sainthood, praise for Mary was short-lived. In the late…


James K. Polk, born Nov. 2, 1795, manifested US destiny

Last week marked a time steeped in manifest destiny. Manifest Destiny. Not a term one hears much today, and a concept liberals and conservatives might debate from both sides of the ideological divide, but an organizing principle from 19th Century America with massive implications for modern day America. This, then, is a pretty good week to consider President James K. Polk. Nov. 2 marks Polk’s…