On this July 4 commemoration of the grandest day in humanity’s political history, Americans wonder whether their politics will ever again be normal. Jon Grinspan has a strangely reassuring message: Normal is abnormal.
He curates, on Constitution Avenue, the politics collection at the National Museum of American History, whose bazillion artifacts include: the teacup Abraham Lincoln placed on a windowsill before departing for Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Hoods worn by prisoners who were hanged for complicity in Lincoln’s assassination. The Emancipation Proclamation printed as a tiny (about 3 inches by 2 inches) booklet distributed by Union soldiers to Black Southerners. A bug-with-flapping-wings lapel pin worn by “gold bugs,” who were gold-standard voters in late-19th century campaigns about the national currency.
George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com.
Read the full opinion at washingtonpost.com.
