There is one last thing about gold worth remembering. Much decorative gold is not solid gold at all. It is gold leaf, hammered so thin that a tiny amount can cover a great deal of ordinary material underneath, making it look richer than it really is.
Which, come to think of it, is also a pretty good description of branding.
The president gets the office for a while. The country keeps the presidency.
It is not the gold that matters.
It is the name over the door.
Bibliography
1. • White House Historical Association, “Determining Where the White House Must Stand.” On David Stuart’s warning to George Washington that L’Enfant’s proposed presidential residence was “much too extensive” and more suited to a “despotic government.”
2. • White House Historical Association, “Rebuilding the White House.” Describes the White House as “an august house, yet a house and not a palace.”
3. • United States Senate Historical Office, “Washington’s Inauguration.” On the debate over the title “His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties.”
4. • Reuters, “Supreme Court lets Trump continue work on White House ballroom for now,” August 21, 2026. On the $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom project and the legal fight over congressional authorization.
5. • Reuters, “Trump the builder carves his legacy in stone as pressures mount,” August 19, 2026. On Trump’s personal involvement in White House construction and landscaping.
6. • Reuters, “Judge questions Trump plan for ‘Independence Arch’ near the National Mall,” April 2, 2026. On the proposed 250-foot triumphal arch.
7. • National Park Service, “The Washington Monument: Tribute in Stone.” On the history and construction of the Washington Monument.
8. • Reuters, “Trump’s bid to inscribe name on Kennedy Center faces renewed court test,” August 19, 2026. On efforts to put Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center and its grounds.
9. • Reuters, “‘Trump accounts’ for youth will accept stock donations, US officials say,” July 2, 2026. On federally established children’s investment accounts.
10. • Reuters, “GSK and Amgen to add medicines to TrumpRx,” March 14, 2026. On the administration’s TrumpRx prescription-drug website.
11. • Reuters, “Trump’s signature on $100 bill to put him in small circle of sitting presidents,” March 28, 2026. On Trump’s signature appearing on U.S. currency.
12. • Château de Versailles, “History” and “Louis XIV.” On Versailles as an expression of royal power.
13. • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, “Historical Essays: Origins of Boulder/Hoover Dam.” On the naming and renaming of Hoover Dam.