Henry, please, please, please, keep traveling in America and keep writing these posts. I can't get enough of them. Your deceptively straightforward observations are those of a man who not only looks, but sees. You show me my country in new and thought-provoking ways.
Arlington is a collision of slavery, martial ritual, and fractured democracy—where pain distills into heavy wisdom. A stark reflection on our history. - Thanks for this post.
And to think the visual and moral relationship between Arlington and the existing memorials you mention here could soon be undone by a hideous and obscene “triumphal” arch standing between them… The Lincoln Memorial is only 99 feet tall.
I share the aesthetic preferences that motivate the judgment that the architecture is “out of place.” Nevertheless, I think the judgement is mistaken. You pivot toward a more sympathetic interpretation of the architecture near the end, but I still think the reference to empire—even the heart of empire— is misguided, not because there’s really any question that America is an empire—I’d say that’s been hard to deny at least since 1945, and who could plausibly argue otherwise at least since 1992? — but because such a fact is antithetical to the aspirations the architecture is meant to embody. And those aspirations are as American as it gets. From the founding generation’s preoccupation with republicanism to the Greek Revival of the 19th century and the rhetoric of the Gettysburg address to the White City of the Chicago Columbia Exposition and on into the 20th and 21st centuries, Americans want to see themselves as the heirs, custodians, and improvers of classical antiquity at its best. And that last part—improving— means bustling commerce, daring innovation, and individual rights.
I know you know all of this. I’m just trying to make more vivid and distinct the “shall not perish from the earth” resonance of what might otherwise seem – strange to say– at once both foreign and hackneyed.
My father was a military officer and, during my childhood in the late 1960s, we lived in Virginia while he worked at the Pentagon. We were very popular among relatives, who were always coming from all over the country to stay with us and see "Our Nation's Capital." I became a bit sullen and whined about always having to take them on The Tour of Famous Places. Years later, I returned to DC as an adult. I clearly recall standing on the porch of Arlington House (although I feel we called it the Custis House?), looking across to Lincoln's Memorial and tearing up at the magnificence and the tragedy of it all.
Thank you for that evocative tour of Arlington, a place that holds crucial memories of our past, both terrible and noble. May it be preserved so that others may walk in peace -- even with the shouts of children.
Henry, please, please, please, keep traveling in America and keep writing these posts. I can't get enough of them. Your deceptively straightforward observations are those of a man who not only looks, but sees. You show me my country in new and thought-provoking ways.
Thank you for this. Deeply touching and travels deep to the heart of what is important.
Arlington is a collision of slavery, martial ritual, and fractured democracy—where pain distills into heavy wisdom. A stark reflection on our history. - Thanks for this post.
My brother, John, is buried there and your piece took me right back there. It was a sunny day in May, 2023. Thank you.
Oh gosh I didn’t realise isn’t it a unique place
And to think the visual and moral relationship between Arlington and the existing memorials you mention here could soon be undone by a hideous and obscene “triumphal” arch standing between them… The Lincoln Memorial is only 99 feet tall.
Awful grace indeed.
The turn-flick-snap description is going to stay with me.
thank you, henry.
Henry, this is great. I appreciate the outside-looking-in quality of essays like this, and you’re an especially astute observer.
Thank you :) I’m just so pleased to be able to see it all
A powerful, moving piece, very apposite too, at the present time.
I had no idea Americans have their own 'changing of the guard' rituals.
A VERY MOVING ESSAY-I THINK YOU'VE CAPTURED THAT STRANGE QUALITY OF AMERICAN NOBILITY AND, WELL, THE OTHER PARTS NEEDINF SOME WORK
I ENJOY YOUR WORK AND AM READING ADAM SMITH THANKS TO YOU
Hope you are enjoying smith!
Thank you, Henry.
I share the aesthetic preferences that motivate the judgment that the architecture is “out of place.” Nevertheless, I think the judgement is mistaken. You pivot toward a more sympathetic interpretation of the architecture near the end, but I still think the reference to empire—even the heart of empire— is misguided, not because there’s really any question that America is an empire—I’d say that’s been hard to deny at least since 1945, and who could plausibly argue otherwise at least since 1992? — but because such a fact is antithetical to the aspirations the architecture is meant to embody. And those aspirations are as American as it gets. From the founding generation’s preoccupation with republicanism to the Greek Revival of the 19th century and the rhetoric of the Gettysburg address to the White City of the Chicago Columbia Exposition and on into the 20th and 21st centuries, Americans want to see themselves as the heirs, custodians, and improvers of classical antiquity at its best. And that last part—improving— means bustling commerce, daring innovation, and individual rights.
I know you know all of this. I’m just trying to make more vivid and distinct the “shall not perish from the earth” resonance of what might otherwise seem – strange to say– at once both foreign and hackneyed.
My father was a military officer and, during my childhood in the late 1960s, we lived in Virginia while he worked at the Pentagon. We were very popular among relatives, who were always coming from all over the country to stay with us and see "Our Nation's Capital." I became a bit sullen and whined about always having to take them on The Tour of Famous Places. Years later, I returned to DC as an adult. I clearly recall standing on the porch of Arlington House (although I feel we called it the Custis House?), looking across to Lincoln's Memorial and tearing up at the magnificence and the tragedy of it all.
Thank you for that evocative tour of Arlington, a place that holds crucial memories of our past, both terrible and noble. May it be preserved so that others may walk in peace -- even with the shouts of children.
Well captured , Henry .