Ted Widmer: All Related Content

More than most founders, Thomas Jefferson has a way of returning to the news cycle.

Using spectral imaging technology, the Library of Congress recently discovered a fascinating ghost inside an early draft of the Declaration of Independence. The faint trace of a rejected word — “subjects” — could be seen beneath the word that made it into the final document, “citizens.”

And Ford had an advantage since things could only go up,'' said Ted Widmer, a presidential scholar at Brown University, referring to the recession and two ...

Not too long ago, I predicted that a solid recent history of the 2008 election (Richard Wolffe's "Renegade") was likely to be the final word until President Obama wrote his own version of those storied events. A few months later, it appears that the conveyor belt is just getting started and that we will be reading about 2008 for a while to come. My bad!

Clinton's speechwriter that day, Ted Widmer, recalled a feeling of sensory overload.

"It was surreal in many ways - just one sensation after the next," he said. "Sweat was pouring out of every pore in my body. ... I was seeing these people do a lion dance with deafening drums. ... I've been at plenty of unmemorable political speeches. This one was carnival-esque and fun."

We've never really gotten over Lincoln’s assassination, 144 years ago this week. The news came quickly, but the full import of the deed -- a sordid attack upon democracy at a most vulnerable moment in our history -- took longer to settle in. Early in the morning on April 15, the first reports flashed with lightning speed along telegraph lines and railroad tracks throughout the newly united states. Twenty years earlier, it would have taken New Yorkers more than a day to know. Now the facts were instantaneous and overwhelming. By 3 a.m. Northern cities had heard of the shooting; by 8 a.m.

We're asking a lot of Barack Obama, just to right the sinking ship of American politics. Can we expect him to save American culture as well? Can a president spin that much gossamer from his oratory? Can the American people make better books, movies and music, inspired to new heights by better speeches and our better angels?

If history is any guide, the answer is simple: No, we can't!

It takes time to assess a presidency.

Harry S Truman left office reviled, only to enjoy huge popularity after colorful biographies were published, decades later.

Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace, but enjoyed partial success burnishing his credentials as a foreign policy sage.

Bill Clinton left office after surviving impeachment, but has earned high marks for his charity work since then, despite some bumps in the 2008 campaign.