In the false and childish worldview of the media, the coverage of any individual must boil down to either glorious adulation or backbiting vilification
It is a great disservice to any person to sum up the totality of one’s career in a few short words, using mere sound bites as a pretext to label it either a tremendous success or an abject failure. This is especially true of our presidents. Writing about the legacy of any president must, almost by definition, be an exercise in contrasts. One can find errors in the decisions of President Washington. By the same token, good intentions have frequently propelled the actions of our worst presidents, and even the worst of this group can be credited with accomplishments that have benefited society for years, if not decades, to come.
