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Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier walked viewers through Mount Vernon this week in a stirring reminder that our nation’s founding still matters, joining Mount Vernon president and CEO Doug Bradburn to showcase exhibits that celebrate George Washington’s pivotal role. The on-camera tour was a welcome contrast to the cultural elites who have spent years trying to rewrite and diminish the story of America’s birth.
Mount Vernon has beefed up its presentation with a reimagined education center and interactive galleries that bring Washington’s life to vivid life for families and students, putting original documents and personal objects on display for all Americans to see. This kind of investment in public history is exactly what we need as the country prepares for the 250th anniversary of independence—real museums doing real work, not caricatures in classrooms.
Visitors will walk past artifacts that prove the man was a soldier, statesman, and reluctant leader who put country before self, from battlefield decisions to the weighty compromises of the Constitutional era. Mount Vernon doesn’t sanitize Washington; it shows the grit behind the legend and the hard choices that secured our liberty, which is more than can be said for many modern institutions.
It’s also heartening that the new displays acknowledge the full complexity of the era while refusing to turn Washington into either a saint or a straw man for modern ideologues. Mount Vernon presents the facts—enslaved people’s stories are part of the site’s truth-telling—without weaponizing history to shame ordinary Americans who love their country. That balanced approach should be the standard, not the exception.
Doug Bradburn’s leadership in expanding Mount Vernon’s reach and relevance has been unmistakable; under his stewardship the estate has become a genuine civic resource rather than a sleepy relic. Conservative readers should welcome journalists like Bret Baier who use their platform to elevate patriotism, common sense history, and the virtues that built this nation.
As America enters its 250th year, citizens who love liberty should make a point to visit Mount Vernon, support institutions that teach the truths of our founding, and push back against those who would hollow out the story of American greatness. A trip to Washington’s home is more than tourism—it’s a civic duty for every hardworking American who wants future generations to know why this country was worth founding in the first place.
