Words: 82 (19×13)
Average Length: 5.02

This puzzle’s seed – the inscription at 20, 28, and 49 Across – comes from a wonderful joint biography of our second President and his wife by Joseph J. Ellis, First Family: Abigail and [64 Across]. The hope expressed in the inscription has been realized rather less often than its author anticipated, and it’s been utterly dashed by the current incumbent, but it’s still an aspiration worth striving for. (Finding a grid design that would accommodate the quote in a symmetrical way was challenging, which accounts for the unusual dimensions of today’s puzzle.)