Madeleine Dahlgren's 1881 work aims to provide readers with a guide to the peculiar and particular manners and mores of the Nation's capital. Recognizing that official life in Washington, D.C. leads to "perplexing social questions," Dahlgren's work, which went through a number of editions in her lifetime, lays out the special code of social laws that are a work in Washington in the late nineteenth century.
Excerpt from Etiquette of Social Life in Washington Precedence at the dinner table is the grand subject of social wrangling in Washington, and the need of a fixed rule is here so painfully apparent, that those who have been taught to be careful by sad experience, will simply avoid asking those func tionaries to meet each other whose claims may con ict. Yet the Vice President, the chiefjustice, the Speaker, the General of the Army, the Admiral of the Navy, Foreign Ministers, Cabinet Ministers and Senators, they and their wives ought to be able to meet, and dine in peace together! Let a social congress or woman's parliament be convened, composed of these ladies, where, after all the arguments and respective claims have been duly weighed, some positive rules may be agreed upon. It is surprising what natural aristocrats women are. In the army and navy, for example, the wives of officers adhere more rigidly to designated and relative social rank, than the Officers do themselves nor do our American women object to bear foreign titles of distinction. Indeed, in this they reason wisely; for in countries where class distinctions exist, these usually imply respectable lineage. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
The bestselling author of The Limits of Power critically examines the Washington consensus on national security and why it must change For the last half century, as administrations have come and gone, the fundamental assumptions about America's military policy have remained unchanged: American security requires the United States (and us alone) to maintain a permanent armed presence around the globe, to prepare our forces for military operations in far-flung regions, and to be ready to intervene anywhere at any time. In the Obama era, just as in the Bush years, these beliefs remain unquestioned gospel. In Washington Rules, a vivid, incisive analysis, Andrew J. Bacevich succinctly presents the origins of this consensus, forged at a moment when American power was at its height. He exposes the preconceptions, biases, and habits that underlie our pervasive faith in military might, especially the notion that overwhelming superiority will oblige others to accommodate America's needs and desires—whether for cheap oil, cheap credit, or cheap consumer goods. And he challenges the usefulness of our militarism as it has become both unaffordable and increasingly dangerous. Though our politicians deny it, American global might is faltering. This is the moment, Bacevich argues, to reconsider the principles which shape American policy in the world—to acknowledge that fixing Afghanistan should not take precedence over fixing Detroit. Replacing this Washington consensus is crucial to America's future, and may yet offer the key to the country's salvation.
