WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� When George W. Bush wrote an essay this year about another president named George, he avoided mentioning the one named Donald.
So did Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. The three ex-presidents joined a roster of historians and authors in contributing to the In Pursuit project, a 250th-anniversary series that had each writer produce an essay about a president or first lady.
Though the project was explicitly designed to transcend today鈥檚 politics, some of its essays nevertheless reflect anxieties that are flaring in the era of over the use of power, the health of the democracy and the integrity of the presidency.
The project is being curated by Colleen Shogan, the U.S. archivist who was by Trump last year. She instructed contributors not to be partisan or ideological. 鈥淓verybody took those instructions and that guidance very seriously,鈥� she told The Associated Press. The goal was for all Americans to 鈥渇eel welcome to be able to read these lessons and essays and learn something from them.鈥�
The mission, Shogan said, 鈥渋s to surface the lessons from the past 250 years of American history, so that we can learn from those lessons, from both our successes and our failures, so we can plan for the present and the future. It鈥檚 what has been described as debriefing the American story.鈥�
The essays cover 43 presidents 鈥� all but Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Trump 鈥� and 30 first ladies. They are being published chronologically and weekly into December.
Trump and Biden were judged too fresh to be appraised by history, a call that may have also set aside passions of the moment.
Without naming Trump, is difficult to read without thinking of Trump鈥檚 reluctance to cede power after his 2020 election defeat and his musings about a third term in defiance of the Constitution鈥檚 two-term limit.
Bush hails the heroism of humility
Bush’s essay celebrates , the original 鈥淣o Kings鈥� guy. Bush, a Republican, hails a man whose legacy only grew larger because he modeled the limits of the presidency for centuries to come.
鈥淥ur first president could have remained all-powerful,鈥� Bush writes, 鈥渂ut twice he chose not to. In so doing, he set a standard for all presidents to live up to.鈥� First, Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army, then set the precedent of serving only two presidential terms before that limit was enshrined in the Constitution.
Bush went on: “George Washington鈥檚 humility in giving up power willingly remains among the most consequential decisions and important examples in American politics.鈥� Bush’s essay, released Presidents Day as the first in the series on Substack, drove heavy engagement.
Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who led U.S. and international forces in the Afghanistan War, , Ulysses S. Grant, in another essay that drew much attention for its parallels with today.
History offers lessons on 鈥榣aw over loyalty鈥�
McChrystal presents the as a leader who displayed 鈥渁n absolute commitment to principles larger than personal ambition” and who, before his presidency, resisted pressure on military leaders to 鈥渁lign with political factions and be loyal to a person rather than the Constitution.鈥�
The emphasis on personal loyalty resonates in a time when Trump has repeatedly demanded fealty from officials in his administration.
The 鈥渢emptation to bend institutions toward personal power is not unique to Grant鈥檚 era,鈥� McChrystal writes. 鈥淥ur future still depends on whether our leaders choose law over loyalty.鈥�
This month, in the latest In Pursuit installment, Democrat Clinton writes about , focusing on to expand the universe of 鈥渨e the people鈥� at the expense of powerful corporate interests, while also emphasizing Roosevelt’s exclusionary views on Black and Indigenous people.
The essays frequently address presidents鈥� failures alongside their accomplishments, a contrast with Trump鈥檚 calls for federal cultural institutions to stick to patriotic interpretations of American history.
Presidents, the chief justice and first ladies contribute
Among the In Pursuit contributors are Chief Justice John Roberts (writing about , the only president who also served on the Supreme Court); Hillary Clinton ( ); Michelle Obama ( ); GOP operative Karl Rove ( ); documentarian Ken Burns ( ); and historian Michael Beschloss ( ). Democrat Barack Obama .
The project is being staged by More Perfect, a nonpartisan alliance of dozens of presidential centers along with academics and organizations dedicated to advancing democracy. It is where Shogan now practices her archivist craft that Trump shut down by firing her in February 2025.
She still has not been told why. Nor has Congress apparently been notified of the reason. The law requires Congress to be told but does not specify a deadline. The National Archives is the central repository of federal documents both precious and routine, and its leader has discretion over which records to preserve and display, and how.
鈥淭hat is a position that used to be a nonpartisan position, much like the Librarian of Congress, the secretary of the Smithsonian,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I took that very seriously and acted the entire time when I was archivist in a nonpartisan way.鈥�
The White House did not respond when asked why Trump fired the archivist and whether the administration will tell Congress the reason.
Trump has long begrudged the archives for of his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office following his first term, though Shogan was not working for the agency then.
Shogan sees hunger for history without a slant
Shogan said she has been overwhelmed with the public response to the series so far and figures that speaks to a hunger for history shorn of partisanship. The essays have received more than 1 million cumulative views on Substack and her podcast of the same name registered 160,000 audio downloads and nearly 64,000 YouTube views at last count. A documentary about the series is scheduled to air on PBS in October.
In the essays, readers learn something new not just about the giants, but about presidents such as 鈥� 鈥渁 historic punchline 鈥� best remembered, ironically, for being so forgotten,鈥� in the words of his essayist, former New York congressman Steve Israel.
Then there was , as a pro-slavery president and 鈥減ermanent victim鈥� of Washington’s alcohol-soaked culture.
Yale history professor David W. Blight recounts how Pierce won the presidency for the Democrats in 1852 despite vicious trolling by the Whigs. Fielding Mexican War veteran Gen. Winfield Scott in that election, they labeled Pierce, who also served in the war, the 鈥渉ero of many a well-fought bottle.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
