And it looks at how presidents have become part of the popular culture. Their images became the gist of cartoons, songs, merchandise, and they became part of everyday lives through newsreels, radio, television, film and the Internet. The show, one of the largest exhibitions ever mounted by the Smithsonian, was put together in just eight months instead of the typical two to three years. The timing of the opening turns out to be impeccable. Interest in the presidency is on an upswing.
Evidence is everywhere.
The ongoing national suspension of belief around the 2000 election toss-up only underscores this obsession. The events of the past week quite predictably upset the Smithsonian's plan to have the 43rd president prominently featured. That will wait. But meanwhile, visitors can look at actual electoral votes in one of the show's first cases. The historians did have some artifacts on hand to say that nothing is new in American politics.