Franklin D. Roosevelt

How a troubling diagnosis led Nova Scotia’s Brian Doucette on a quest for the truth about his furniture

Every third monday in February, the U.S. celebrates a national holiday honouring George Washington and his successors as president. The presidency was not originally meant to be the most important elected office in the world. The separation of powers between the exceutive and legislative (Congress) branches made sure that American Revolution would not replace a royal monarch with a civil one. Also, at the time of the founding Constitution, the new nation was far from being the superpower it would become less than 200 years later. Yet, no one today would dispute that the American president, despite the checks and balances of the U.S. Constitution, is the most consequential political actor in the world.

Presidential stopovers in Ottawa have included fishing trips, protests and back-breaking labour