August 2026 Imperfect Union Hi friends and welcome new faces! I’m so glad you are here. One quick note: If you will be at the National Book Festival next Saturday, I hope you will come see me. I’ll be on a panel at 11 AM and signing books after. I originally wrote about our relationship to the historical figures we write about back in June of 2021. Wow, that seems like a long time ago. I stand by…
August 2026 Imperfect Union Part II: The Whiskey Rebellion to Ulysses Grant, and Why It Matters Today Welcome to Part II of the Civilian Control of the Military series! We are going to start with the Whiskey Rebellion during Washington’s presidency. If you missed it, you may wish to start with part one , which covers the Revolution and the founding of these principles. In 1791, Congress needed…
July 2026 Imperfect Union Part 1: George Washington and the Revolution 250 years ago, the Continental Army was waiting. A massive British naval convoy had sailed into New York Harbor at the end of June and the first British troops had landed unopposed on Staten Island on July 2. Over the next several weeks, additional armies and navies poured into the harbor. By mid-August , nearly 400 British…
June 2026 Imperfect Union On July 6, 1976, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in the United States for a state visit to commemorate the nation’s bicentennial. In Philadelphia, she gifted the nation a new bell, forged at the same foundry as the Liberty Bell. The new bell has “Let Freedom Ring” inscribed on the side. Queen Elizabeth said in her remarks, “It is a message in which both our people can join and…
May 2026 Imperfect Union Last week, I moderated a conversation with Robert Parkinson , Michael Auslin , and Jim Rasenberger about their new books on the Declaration of Independence and July 4 at the George Washington Presidential Library. My final question asked them what they wanted to see this year for the 250th semiquincentennial anniversary. But I set it up by listing all the previous…
April 2026 Imperfect Union Gosh, I have so much to share with you guys! Over the last year, I’ve written several things here and there and those projects are coming to fruition. This post is a bit of a hodgepodge, which is different than my usual post. I’m proud of the work, however, so I hope it is fun or useful. 1 - A few weeks ago, I published an essay with In Pursuit on John Quincy Adams and…
March 2026 Imperfect Union I was noodling around on various sites, looking for inspiration on what to write about in this newsletter (sometimes it is really hard to come up with a topic!), when I saw my friend Dr. Kori Schake posted that she had been disinvited from speaking at the Air War College on her new book, The State and the Soldier . We hosted Kori to speak about her book at the George…
February 2026 Imperfect Union Presidents’ Day is tomorrow and I think it is a deeply misunderstood and slightly problematic holiday. Not because we don’t have presidents worth celebrating—we do!—but because of the implications for the republic. I am going to share some history and suggest some alternatives. But first, I have a big event coming up at work in a couple of weeks and I’m really proud…
January 2026 Imperfect Union Today, I wanted to share a sneak peek into a fun research rabbit hole. But, in case you missed it, I wrote a longer piece last week for the 250th anniversary of Common Sense and why it still matters today. As I’m writing and sharing more often, I am trying to balance a more serious people with the research joy. This process is an experiment, so please feel free to let…
Common Sense at 250 On January 10, 1776 [1] , Robert Bell printed a small, forty-six-page pamphlet and advertised it in the local Philadelphia newspapers. Common Sense became an instant hit, selling over 120,000 copies in just three months. Thomas Paine’s simple, powerful language persuaded many Americans to support independence and offers a clarion call and guiding light to our nation as it…
December 2025 Imperfect Union Hi friends, a couple of logistics before we dive in. First, I’ll be doing a Substack live with In Pursuit on January 5 at 7:30 PM in honor of the 250th anniversary of Common Sense. Feel free to join us or catch up later. Second, in a couple of months, I will hit seven years of writing monthly. There are many more faces here than when I started and I’m guessing most of…
November 2025 Imperfect Union I had planned to write a newsletter today about the history of tariffs (since they are still and constantly in the news) or maybe about how executive power has changed over time. I think those are both worth writing, but my heart just wasn’t in it and I couldn’t make my fingers type the words. This fall was impossibly busy and combined with the news, everything just…
November 2025 Imperfect Union Theodore Roosevelt coined the term “bully pulpit” to refer to the president’s powerful platform and ability to influence public opinion. He regularly used the term “bully” to mean terrific or great, which is not necessarily how we think of the term today. Most people probably think of the president’s ability to control, influence, or shape behavior through the…
October 2025 Imperfect Union Part 1: The Fourth Estate, the First Amendment, and George Washington Hi friends – a couple of logistics first. Last month, I was traveling and dreadfully sick and completely forgot to include my usual notes about podcasts, events, etc. at the end. A reader commented on it, which really made my day because I wasn’t sure if you guys read those! I’ve included August and…
September 2025 Imperfect Union There is a lot happening in the world at this moment and most of it feels bad. I don’t know to fix much it, but I do have some suggestions for how to fix our government. A few weeks ago, I realized I had talked about this idea at some length at events and on podcasts over the last year or so, but I hadn’t put it into writing. Now seemed like a good time to do so. On…
August 2025 Imperfect Union Before I get down to business, I wanted to share some fun news. If you follow me on social media, you probably saw this announcement, but if not: my next book is coming! I still have to write the thing, but I’m very excited about it. Get ready for lots of JQA! Down to business. I read somewhere in a book that only 13% of people living in the thirteen states could vote…
July 2025 Imperfect Union We often talk about the presidency being the most powerful office in the world, and it has only gotten stronger in the last century. War powers are one of the most expansive elements of the presidency. War powers have been in the news lately thanks to the strike on Iran, but this topic is actually evergreen. In the last several decades, both parties have discussed reforms…
June 2025 Imperfect Union On October 23, 1789, President George Washington traveled north to Boston. In his first term, Washington visited every state. He toured one side of the state and returned down the other side. He stopped in local towns, visited mills and ports, attended multiple religious services of different denominations every Sunday, and dined with leading citizens. Washington’s tours…
May 2025 Imperfect Union This past week, I was in England for a work trip. My colleagues and I visited with peers and saw incredible treasures at Cambridge, Oxford, and Windsor. If you want to see more pictures, I shared a bunch on Instagram and saved them all under “highlights” on my profile. Our colleagues put in so much time and effort to pulling items for us to see and crafting a memorable…
April 2025 Imperfect Union Before I get to the meat of this newsletter, I wanted to share an update about a new podcast. As part of my job as Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library, I am hosting a podcast called Leadership & Legacy: Conversations at the George Washington Presidential Library . I interview historians about leaders in the past or people in current…