When Marshall died in 1835, he and the Court he led had rebuked two presidents, Congress, and a dozen states and laid down principles of law and politics that still apply.

The beaten path can be a busy and distracting place.

Since we never get everything we want or need from our families, we look for sufficiency in surrogates.

The lightheaded and the fashionable are always willing to shed tears for distant underdogs.

Lincoln told a family friend that his father taught him to work, but never learned him to love it.

She noticed, as an exceptional woman would, that her stepson was exceptional.

He might not take their advice, but he took their temperature.

Lincoln was a master of small group theatrics.

Washington offered a republican substitute for the dignity of royalty.

Good politicians know when to move on, sooner or later.