Tidal Basin

Taft took up Skidmore's cause as her own, and in a few short years, cherry blossoms bloomed in Washington.

But the trees did more than just beautify the Tidal Basin.

As today's guest, John Bridgeland, argues, Taft believed in the power of creating civic spaces that draw people together from all walks of life.

So what can we learn from the roots of Taft's vision? I'm Colleen Shogan, and this is In Pursuit, a podcast that explores lessons from America's past to write the history of America's future.

John Bridgeland, welcome to In Pursuit.

Nice to be with you, Colleen.

Well, if we walked around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. during springtime, what would we see and who was responsible for that?

Oh, it's spellbinding, actually.

And you live in a country where you don't... have to, and mustn't be intimidated by the supposed strength of illusions like this or the people who peddle them.

Where I was very kind to mention that I recently took my oath as an American citizen at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., actually it was on the 13th of April, which is his birthday and also mine, and I'm in a small way his biographer, and I was able to arrange to take the oath at the Tidal Basin by his memorial, and I made a little speech about the Virginia statute on religious freedom, which is the basis of the tremendous first amendment to our constitution.

that guarantees, as you know, that there can be no clerical meddling in our public and political life.

And the shorthand phrase for that was uttered by the president in a letter that he wrote to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, seeking refuge from persecution from the Congregationalists of Danbury, Connecticut, by the way.

Well, that would be separate from the National Park Service.

The National Park Service awarded a contract that actually happened a few years ago with the West Potomac Park and the Tidal Basin to redo the seawall over there.

And it's insanely expensive.

I mean, there's a lot of reasons for that.

You live close by.

In terms of cost, just recently the National Park Service redid the seawall around the Tidal Basin and adjacent to the Jefferson Memorial.

And that cost about $70 million.

And it's a thumbnail compared to the very long island seawall, which I go over there on any heavy rainy day and the water washes up over the railings onto the ground and even the ground in the middle the district of columbia had a swimming has had the swimming pool there for for decades they tried to rebuild the pool they could not because the groundwater was which was supposed to be 14 feet deep was actually only four feet so the ground over there for buildings and and the massive construction is just not stable

If folks have ever been to Washington, D.C., if they've been on the National Mall, that extends from the Capitol past the Washington Monument down to the Lincoln Memorial.

But then jutting to the south of that, we have the Tidal Basin that has the Jefferson Memorial on it.

And even further south of that, a man-made island called Haynes Point.

And the bulk of Haynes Point is East Potomac Park.

... tournaments or whatever

... all my old buddies and I would go over there during lunch hours sometimes and hit balls, but it was right there on the Tidal Basin.

It's really called Haines Point.

Uh, they-

And then after the breakfast, we had the opportunity to walk.

You could walk one mile, two miles, or you could do the full loop, which took us all the way around the Tidal Basin.

And for people who are familiar with Washington, DC, that's a really iconic part of the city where you get to see all the monuments, and you really have a great experience up close with everything that we have to offer here, and it was just a great opportunity to connect with other people and to feel really supported.

I'd say the mood overall was just very optimistic, very enthusiastic, very supportive.

There is fencing up around now the motherfucking Kennedy Center.

The tidal basin looks like a fucking hurricane hit it.

They're starting to chop down trees down there at East Potomac.

I mean, the reflecting pool.