When George W. Bush penned an essay earlier this year about a fellow president named George, he pointedly avoided mentioning the one named Donald. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton did the same.

The three former presidents joined a roster of historians and authors in contributing to the In Pursuit project, a series commemorating the approaching 250th anniversary of the United States — the 2026 semiquincentennial marking the Declaration of Independence. Each writer produced an essay about a U.S. president or first lady. Though the project was explicitly conceived to rise above today's partisan politics, several essays inevitably mirror anxieties intensifying during President Donald Trump's tenure — over the exercise of presidential power, the health of American democracy, and the integrity of the office itself.

The series is curated by Colleen Shogan, who in 2023 became the first woman confirmed as U.S. Archivist — a role Trump eliminated for her without explanation in February 2025. She instructed all contributors to steer clear of partisanship and ideology.

"Everybody took those instructions and that guidance very seriously," Shogan told The Associated Press. The aim, she explained, was for all Americans to "feel welcome to be able to read these lessons and essays and learn something from them."

The project's mission, Shogan said, "is to surface the lessons from the past 250 years of American history, so that we can learn from those lessons, from both our successes and our failures, so we can plan for the present and the future. It's what has been described as debriefing the American story."

The essays span 43 presidents — every one except Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Trump — along with 30 first ladies. They are being published weekly and in chronological order through December. Trump and Biden were deemed too recent for historical appraisal, a decision that may have also served to set aside the political passions of the moment.

Bush's essay, though it never names Trump, is difficult to read without reflecting on Trump's reluctance to concede power after his 2020 election defeat and his public musings about a third term in defiance of the Constitution's two-term limit.

Bush celebrates George Washington as the original "No Kings" figure. Bush, a Republican, praises a man whose legacy only grew over centuries because he modeled restraint on the presidency.

"Our first president could have remained all-powerful," Bush writes, "but twice he chose not to. In so doing, he set a standard for all presidents to live up to." Washington first resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army, then established the precedent of stepping down after two presidential terms — a norm that predated its codification in the Constitution.

"George Washington's humility in giving up power willingly remains among the most consequential decisions and important examples in American politics," Bush continues. His essay, published on Presidents Day as the inaugural entry in the series on Substack, generated significant public engagement.

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who commanded U.S. and international forces during the Afghanistan War, profiled a fellow military leader — Ulysses S. Grant — in another essay that drew considerable attention for its contemporary parallels.

McChrystal portrays the Union general and post-Civil War president as a leader who demonstrated "an absolute commitment to principles larger than personal ambition" and who, prior to his presidency, resisted pressure on military leaders to "align with political factions and be loyal to a person rather than the Constitution."

That emphasis on personal loyalty carries unmistakable resonance at a time when Trump has repeatedly demanded fealty from officials across his administration.

"The temptation to bend institutions toward personal power is not unique to Grant's era," McChrystal writes. "Our future still depends on whether our leaders choose law over loyalty."

In the latest In Pursuit installment this month, Bill Clinton writes about Theodore Roosevelt, focusing on Roosevelt's determination to expand the reach of "we the people" at the expense of entrenched corporate interests — while also candidly addressing the president's exclusionary attitudes toward Black and Indigenous people. (Substack link)

The essays consistently confront presidential failures alongside accomplishments, a deliberate contrast with Trump's calls for federal cultural institutions to confine themselves to patriotic narratives of American history.

The roster of In Pursuit contributors includes Chief Justice John Roberts (writing about William Howard Taft, the only person to serve as both president and Supreme Court justice); Hillary Clinton (Eleanor Roosevelt); Michelle Obama (Jacqueline Kennedy); GOP strategist Karl Rove (William McKinley); documentarian Ken Burns (Franklin D. Roosevelt); and historian Michael Beschloss (Lyndon Johnson). Barack Obama contributes an essay on Abraham Lincoln.

The project is presented by More Perfect, a nonpartisan coalition comprising dozens of presidential centers, academics, and civic organizations devoted to strengthening democracy. It is also where Shogan now channels the archival expertise that Trump abruptly ended by firing her in February 2025.

She still has not been given a reason for her dismissal. Nor, apparently, has Congress been formally notified. Federal law requires that Congress be informed, though it sets no specific deadline.

The National Archives serves as the central repository for federal records and safeguards the nation's founding documents — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — at its Rotunda in Washington. Its leader exercises discretion over which documents are preserved and displayed, and in what manner.

"That is a position that used to be a nonpartisan position, much like the Librarian of Congress, the secretary of the Smithsonian," Shogan said. "And I took that very seriously and acted the entire time when I was archivist in a nonpartisan way."

The White House did not respond to inquiries about why Trump fired the archivist or whether the administration intends to inform Congress of the reason. Trump has long harbored resentment toward the National Archives for its role in notifying the Department of Justice about his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office at the end of his first term — though Shogan was not employed by the agency at that time.

Shogan said she has been overwhelmed by the public response to the series, interpreting it as evidence of a broad appetite for history presented without partisan framing. The essays have surpassed 1 million cumulative views on Substack. Her accompanying podcast has recorded 160,000 audio downloads and nearly 64,000 YouTube views as of the latest count. A documentary about the series is slated to air on PBS in October.

The essays offer fresh insights not only on iconic leaders but also on lesser-known presidents. Millard Fillmore is described by his essayist, former New York Congressman Steve Israel, as "a historic punchline — best remembered, ironically, for being so forgotten."

Then there is Franklin Pierce, depicted by his essayist as a pro-slavery president and "permanent victim" of Washington's alcohol-soaked social culture. Yale history professor David W. Blight recounts, in his essay on Pierce, how Pierce secured the Democratic nomination and won the 1852 presidential election despite fierce attacks from the Whig Party. Running Mexican War veteran Gen. Winfield Scott as their candidate, the Whigs branded Pierce — himself a veteran of the same conflict — the "hero of many a well-fought bottle."

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.