An introduction

I am embarking on a quixotic journey to draw the first forty U.S. presidents in the next forty weeks. As I draw them, I will be reading about each fellow (and sadly, they've all been fellows) in my newly acquired, old set of World Book Encyclopedia, and posting interesting tidbits here.

Why forty? Three reasons:

(1) My new, old set of World Book Encyclopedia was published in 1981. I got the complete set (including an atlas!) for free from a nice family in Ypsilanti. 1981 is the year Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, was elected. Thus, the project is in part circumscribed by the limits of my primary source.

(2) 1981 is also the year I was born. I have meaningful memories of all the presidents that followed Reagan. This project therefore allows me to explore the 40 presidents that preceded my life as a sentient and politically aware being.

(3) Finally, and perhaps most important, I am in Michigan, in my current job (as a law clerk) for about 40 more weeks. As much as the job presents interesting new challenges, I worry that other parts of my brain are suffering for lack of creative stimuli. These 40 weeks are a finite period within which to try something new and to practice my rather rudimentary drawing.

A word regarding accuracy: I am not an artist, nor do I pretend to believe that the 1981 World Book Encyclopedia is an authoritative source on these historical figures. Accuracy isn't really the point.