u/zenerat

The oldest book in mine is a discarded library rebind of The Life of George Washington second revised edition by John Marshall. I believe it is from 1848 or around there.

Eisenhower’s parents met and got married in this building. The original site for Kansas state capital it was moved due to shifting power towards abolition.

Eric Sloane’s America is actually three amazingly illustrated books: American Barns & Covered Bridges, Our Vanishing Landscape, and American Yesterday

In this silly hypothetical, George Washington does not seem to physically age past sixty. He is still able to be killed by assassination/accident. If he is voted out of office, he will pass away naturally within thirty days.

George Washington still wants and continues to run for president. How many times do you think he wins? Will other politicians start to run against him? Would he be deemed touched by God and still be president even today? Or at what point does some faction rise to try to take down this holy abomination, either through the ballot box or through assassination?

I imagine a Washington-based religion would spring up pretty quickly, which would increase his chances of continuously being re-elected.

Benjamin Franklin proposed a 12 person council with staggered terms.

I think it’s an interesting idea but would struggle with infighting. The constitutional convention also agreed however there was another proposal for making the president a three person position and putting each of the tri-president in charge of a different section of the government.

I think times of war or crisis might have been worse but I could also see a sounding board of people with equal powers possibly keeping us from making great executive mistakes.

September 17th 1787, likely means nothing to most Americans. Why is the 4th the main day celebrated. Is it simply a catchier sounding day?

Caveats: I am not a professional historian, nor am I in the film industry. I am an invested amateur in both fields. Spoilers ahead in case you are somehow unfamiliar with Washington's early life or the beginning of the Seven Years' War

The Good:

The single thing I was most concerned about this movie coming from this studio was an influx of overtly Christian themes and religiosity. This movie is much more in line with how Washington was, a wavering point between deist and Christian. It brings up and tries to give an origin story to his Divine Providence, which I think is unlikely but works fine as a thematic element.

I think the native populations were shown as they were in reality. Integral to either side, diverse, with different goals and viewpoints. They are not a monolith, and the various nations are shown as being distinct and autonomous.

Stand-out performances by Ben Kingsley and Andy Serkis. Our titular actor does a good job, and his stiffness in the role probably unintentionally mirrors Washington's stiff formality in reality.

Most of the history is fairly accurate outside of bends and dramatic flairs that make sense for a film to make to increase dramatic tension (up until one scene). Washington is far less polite than reality but again makes sense for dramatic tension and the spirit of a film. Know most of these things happened but just in a more pedestrian, less fantastic way.

The Bad:

The action is not filmed terribly well. It's expected of a mid-budget movie and makes sense to dramatize the scope of the engagements and keep the audience interested. This is all forgivable up until the final battle, where Washington becomes Mel Gibson from The Patriot. Surprisingly, they don't show him having two horses shot out from under him, but they do have him John McClane-ing his way through the French and native troops. Slight retouches here would have kept the scenes from feeling like a parody.

The Ugly:

I was actually very happy with the movie overall. It takes itself seriously and has many little tidbits thrown in, like Washington's obsession with costumes and buttons. He gets to be an Auburn finally, even if a subtle one. We get to see his relationship with Sally Cary for the first time on the big screen, to my knowledge.

The only real negative I have, and this may be a red line for people, is the heavy use of AI. I did not notice this right off when I viewed this; much to my personal horror, my wife did. I did this research after the fact. The director is the head of an AI production company, so it makes sense, but many of the scenes utilize AI over other means. The weather, guns or cannon firing, and costumes on background soldiers. Over a hundred shots in total utilized AI in some way or other.

Which begs a question: where do we go from here? Is this ok? The movie, while having a fake pearly sheen to it, is entertaining and looks better than it should on the budget it had (20 million). Should a movie that has a smaller budget not utilize these tools to tell a better story? I really don't know, but I found it disheartening that I was unable to spot it in the moment.

Without knowledge of the AI usage, I would give this a solid 7.5/10.

With that knowledge, I am at a ?/10

I’ve debated sharing my collection several times. Things are messy or I’m waiting on finding a specific volume. Here is what I got. No I haven’t read everything but I hope to. It is a life goal of mine. Bonus shelf at the top you can see my nautical fiction if you’re interested. If you have any questions or want to see a doodad let me know and I’ll try to accommodate. Not trying to show off but it is one of my pride and joys.

I find flags quite interesting personally so I thought I’d share what knowledge I have around the history of patriotic bunting. Feel free to add or correct any facts as you see fit.

I’ll look at the history of the word primarily from a naval perspective. Bunt refers to heavy swelling center of a net or sail. It began in heavy use in British navy in the 17th century to identify friendly ships and send messages. An informal ship position called a “bunting tosser” would be responsible for managing signal flags.

The U.S. only really started using bunting flags in earnest post Civil War as a sign of reunification. The bunting you most commonly see is actually called a rosette. As bunting does not fall under U.S. flag code it became more popular with the masses even then standard flags for a time. I like bunting but feel like I don’t see it terribly often. Do any of you use bunting flags or enjoy seeing them?

I know quite the order but I thought if any community might know of a book like this, this community might.

I’m currently reading Lost Founder by Jesse Wegman that is on James Wilson and I’m curious about books on the Enlightenment period. I know I definitely should read a book about John Locke sooner or later.

Three times a day on Thunderbolt to “invigorate the liver”.

JFK’s inauguration speech. Feel free to prove me wrong

I plan to read them through chronologically not by publication date. Has anyone else read any of them?

These are my top five in no particular order. Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, and Eisenhower.
I am not suggesting these men were tyrants but that maybe in alternate history fashion they could have become one if they had chosen to.

This is not a serious post

Please try to answer in a non partisan way if possible.