From today’s “Letters from an American” by @hcrichardson.bsky.social heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-14-... Full carousel on Instagram. www.instagram.com/p/DcD40OmFiM...

First slide of an Instagram carousel summarizing Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American, August 14, 2026. A curly-haired dog is pictured in a teal circle on the left. Text reads: "In today's Letters from an American, Heather contrasts the Trump administration's effort to bypass Congress for a $900 million White House vanity project with the signing of the 1935 Social Security Act. She highlights how Labor Secretary Frances Perkins permanently reshaped American democracy, embedding the principle that government exists not to serve individual vanity, but to pool resources and care for all its people.”