Celebrate the Capitol

For months now, your eyes have been on the politicians who represent you.

You’ve been keeping an eye on them, observing how they vote because that’s why you put them in office. You watch them because you want them to lean toward your best interests. But read the new book “The Capitol” by Brian Jay Jones, and you’ll also watch the handsome building where they work.

The year was 1789 and Pierre L’Enfant wanted the job of designing the new home for the new government of America so much that he “practically begged for it.” He was lucky: George Washington, the country’s leader, was “in a hurry” to get a new Federal city up and running and so L’Enfant was granted his desire. He proceeded to explore on horseback the area Washington wanted to develop.

The decision to put the new city near the Potomac was controversial.

Southerners wanted it to be in the South; Northerners wanted it to remain where it was in Philadelphia. Washington knew that time was of the essence, not just to settle the argument, but to ensure that Congress could “get to work as quickly as possible.” He liked the location for the new city; it offered easy access in both directions.

It didn’t hurt that his home in Mount Vernon was nearby.

L’Enfant came up with ideas for a President’s home and for Congress’s workplace, but his concepts likewise came with controversy. Thomas Jefferson thought that something “wasn’t quite right” with the plans and he hated that it was called “Congress House.” He re-named the building the “Capitol.” George Washington just wanted a shiny dome on it.

L’Enfant lost the job.

But construction continued without him, altered by other men, a commission, a contest, and plenty of contention, nearly 400 enslaved laborers, many “unskilled white laborers,” ship captains, stonecutters, and the death of the Capitol’s best champion.

A deadline for completion had been set for December 1, 1800, and it would be close…

No matter where you look, it’s impossible not to hear or see anything about politics these days. It’s everywhere, so why not give in? Just go find “The Capitol” and dig in.

Just know this: you may need patience with it sometimes.

The story of our nation’s “Federal city” and its main building is a long one that can meander in author Brian Jay Jones’ telling. It takes nearly three-quarters of this book to even get out of the nineteenth century, which doesn’t allow for much coverage of the last hundred years.

That can feel repetitious but look past that, at the sly whimsy Jones shares when writing of 1800s political wrangling, or the heart-pounding action in his account of the War of 1812. Those tales, and similar narratives of history save this book, and make it very worthwhile.

If you’ve been thinking about reading something to mark the semiquincentennial, this is a good contender. It’s a deep, sometimes longish dive that any American can enjoy, so look for “The Capitol.” It’ll get your vote.