December 14, 2025
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Ben Shahn
15 min read
The article discusses murals by Ben Shahn in the Cohen Federal Building that illustrate Social Security's founding vision. Shahn was a major American social realist artist whose work depicted labor conditions and social justice themes—understanding his artistic philosophy enriches appreciation of what these murals represent.
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Arc de Triomphe
14 min read
Trump references building an arch 'like the Arc de Triumph' near Arlington Cemetery. Understanding the history, symbolism, and cultural significance of the original Parisian monument—built to honor Napoleon's armies—provides context for evaluating this proposal's architectural and political implications.
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Social Security Act
14 min read
The article describes murals celebrating this landmark legislation and its sweeping reforms. Understanding the Act's creation during the New Deal, its provisions for old-age benefits, unemployment insurance, and child welfare, provides essential historical context for why these buildings and their artwork were created.
Last Sunday, on December 7, Mydelle Wright, a well-regarded preservationist, filed a declaration before a court, saying that President Donald J. Trump is trying to get around the law to bulldoze four historic federal buildings. The four are the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, named for the first Black Cabinet member, completed in 1968 and on the National Register of Historic Places as a building worthy of preservation for its historical significance or artistic value; the New Deal–era General Services Administration (GSA) Regional Office Building; the 1919 Liberty Loan Building, which is the last of the World War I era “tempos” erected as the city grew to accommodate a changing government; and the 1940 Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, full of priceless murals that date from its start as the home of the Social Security Board, the precursor to the Social Security Administration.
Now retired, Wright spent 20 years working for the GSA, the agency that oversees federal buildings. She said she had heard and believed that the White House was circumventing the GSA and its legal procedures to solicit bids to recommend the four buildings for demolition. By law, GSA has sole authority over this process; nonetheless, she said, “key GSA personnel have only just learned of the White House’s activities.”
White House lawyers told the court that Wright’s declaration was “impermissible and factually inaccurate.” But the buildings are in styles popular in the twentieth century, ones Trump denigrated in an August executive order when he called for public buildings to be built in a style of classical architecture based on that of ancient Athens and Rome.
Wright’s declaration came as part of a lawsuit launched in November by the DC Preservation League and the law firm Cultural Heritage Partners after Trump told Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham he was planning to repaint the grey granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building—a National Historic Landmark built in 1888—white. The proposed change had undergone none of the required expert consultation, public input, or consideration of potential damage.
By suing over potential damage to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before the president could damage it, the plaintiffs seek to prevent the sort of damage Trump inflicted on the White House when he bulldozed the East Wing in October without any of the required reviews, environmental studies, public input, or congressional approval.
In 1949, Congress chartered the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation ...
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