Brandon,

I certainly think that the way politicians and powerful figures connect with their people is important. It’s been happening since before media of any kind actually.

King Henry’s first wife, Catherine, in her later years after the divorce, would wash the feet of people who made a pilgrimage to her. She did it as an act of faith and obeisance to God, not as any kind of political maneuvering.

The thing is that, not everything that influences the masses is *meant* to underhandedly manipulate them.

I’m not sure that Brady and Lincoln intended for this photo to reinforce Lincoln’s authority over the army, but that was the result.