Gilt Gone Wild
When the People's House Stops Looking Like Ours
In an old photo album is a black-and-white photo of my mom, my dad, and me standing on the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.
Gracious me, those steps are long and massive. I felt as though we were climbing a white mountain up to the Capitol entrance to view the interior of the majestic rotunda.
The monuments and government buildings in Washington, DC, represent all Americans. They embody our uniquely pragmatic, people-centric 250-year trek to build and sustain this nation.
No kings or queens resided here. We have no dynastic palaces. What we do have are structures that are ours because Washington, DC is the home of the people’s government.
I recall that on our long-ago visit to DC, we paid our respects to those lying in Arlington National Cemetery. Since dad had served in WWII, it meant a lot for him to be there. Arlington was a hallowed place.
We stood at JFK’s grave with its flickering eternal flame. I was moved, even though I was quite young. Dignified, simple, and solemn is how I remember it.
My dad set great store by humility. I think it reflects his generation, which we now call the Greatest Generation. They did great things because those things had to be done, and then they came home after their mission was accomplished. Some carried their mission with them for the rest of their lives. My dad did.
The gravestones in Arlington and the strong stones of our nation’s monuments share a quiet humility. Some display the aesthetic that was in vogue when they were erected, yet that quiet dignity remains.
Then, one day, I began seeing new plans for Washington, DC that shook me to the core.
I thought to myself, “Okay, this must be fake news.” They’ve begun painting the basin of the reflecting pool a garish blue, and there are plans — with a model already presented — for a gold-and-white Arc de Triomphe knockoff between sacred Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
Tell me this ain’t real.
The desecration of our capital is in full swing. The complete demolition of the East Wing has already taken place. Yep, not part of it, but the entire thing is gone.
Gone is the symmetry that the East and West Wings gave to the People’s House. Gone is part of our history as well.
The occupant of the Oval Office had informed the public that his desired ballroom wouldn’t “interfere” with the East Wing. But the photos showed a total demolition. We were lied to. This was a gut punch to many Americans. The East Wing was leveled without notifying the public of what was to come.
And there’s more—the demolition of the East Wing included more than the structure itself.
It annihilated six trees, including two historic magnolia trees on the White House grounds that commemorated Presidents Warren G. Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, first established and planted by Edith Roosevelt, was also a casualty of the quest to build a behemoth ballroom.
Oh, and said ballroom will be larger than what’s left of the historic White House.
Our history is being wiped away without a care for the feelings of the people or for historic preservation.
The East Wing housed the First Lady and her staff for several decades. After years as an ancillary role to the president, late in the 20th century, the First Lady finally earned dedicated space for her separate endeavors. This move reflected that the role was far more than social now — it was substantive.
When the East Wing was erased, I was honestly saddened and felt like it was a demotion for all American women.
In an effort to build that ballroom and add resort-style grandiosity to our nation’s capital, something essentially American is being lost.
I’ve always thought that here in the United States, substance was far more important than spectacle. Sure, we have our parades and fireworks and monuments, but somehow they’re inclusive in a way these new bells and whistles are not. These additions loom above and apart from us, the people, and have no sense of humble dignity at all.
Our nation’s history is full of pragmatic and tenacious originators. Pragmatism is part of our DNA.
The founders and first citizens of this new nation roundly rejected kings, courts, and imperialism. Americans are far from royal. We come from a steadfast, pioneering stock that believes in government by the people and for the people.
Or are we? I worry that we’re losing our authentic individualism.
The White House Rose Garden has been paved over and now features a cheesy gilded sign above the door reading “The Rose Garden Club.”
When King Charles of Great Britain visited the White House, I was horrified to see heavy-handed gilding and gold leaf all over the walls of the people’s house. The tackification was embarrassing to me.
Americans themselves have fallen into a gilding epidemic. We tear down historic buildings and replace them with McMansions.
We’ve taken to gilding ourselves, too. Our culture is obsessed with ultra-white veneers and pulled and tucked faces. Mar-a-Lago face is a real thing. That fake, alien facade is all the rage in Washington now. American individualism seems to be getting lost in the phony sameness.
All this self-gilding and remaking of Washington, DC, reflects what we’ve lost over the past decade-ish. We’re losing what made us unique.
I hope we come to our senses before we lose too much of ourselves. I’m frightened by the direction our nation is taking right now.
America’s capital city is our collective mirror. What do we want to see when we look into it? Do we want to see gilded imperial glitz, or a reflection of the tenacious and quietly proud heritage that we’ve earned in these nearly 250 years?