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A Sports Dispute Started the Cuban Missile Crisis and Other Odd Facts

Khalid Elhassan October 28, 2019 31 min

Pierre Charles L’Enfant in Arlington National Cemetery, overlooking Washington, DC. Wikimedia

27. L’Enfant Did Not Get to Savor His Creation

Although a gifted and visionary architect, L’Enfant lacked political tact and skill, and ended up clashing with officials. Unwillingness to compromise with the city commissioners responsible for implementing his plans, or with the legislators paying for it all, cost him dearly. The exasperated officials hired a surveyor who copied L’Enfant’s plans, with minor modifications to incorporate the changes sought by the politicians, without giving L’Enfant any credit.

Furious, and egged on by Thomas Jefferson, he resigned. It was a bad move: he died penniless in 1825, never having been paid for his work in designing Washington, DC. L’Enfant was originally buried in Maryland, until 1909, when he finally got some posthumous recognition. His remains were exhumed, placed in a casket, and after lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, L’Enfant was reburied in Arlington National Cemetery, in a monument positioned on an elevated spot overlooking the capital city he had designed.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.