Two early presidents raised warnings about the cult of personality

If you believe the national mythology that grew up around President George Washington, he led the country without partisanship, a spirit-pure Cincinnatus who ruled the new nation. It was only when Washington left office, made weary in selfless service, that the noise of party politics became the theme song of America. Lesser men followed him, according to the myth, and the first and most emblematic of these “lesser men” were the country’s first