Essay Database

As chief designer of the new national capital, L'Enfant quickly antagonized the three commissioners in charge of making sure the place got built. When they complained, he alienated his principal supporters, including George Washington, who reluctantly fired him. He spent the rest of his life dunning Congress for back pay, as lean and ragged as the dog that trailed him through the streets. When L'Enfant died in poverty in 1825 his obituary called him "an interesting …

…the radiating avenues and circles and squares L'Enfant had designed. "Few men can afford to wait a hundred years to be remembered," Secretary of State Elihu Root said when a permanent memorial was dedicated two years later. "It is not a change in L'Enfant that brings us here," he said. "It is we who have changed, who have become able to appreciate his work. And our tribute to him should be to continue his work."