Your observations distort Lord Bryce's argument, and the high rankings you give recent Presidents grossly exaggerate their qualities.

Lord Bryce, the English traveler, suggested that Providence might become the first American city-state.

Lord Bryce, later British Ambassador to the United States.

Lord Bryce describes these political bosses saying:

"Professor Bates says the same thing about Lord Bryce."

In support of her thesis, she quotes from two letters of Lord Bryce.

Lord Bryce, a British historian, made these observations in 1884 precisely to point out that the young American Commonwealth was lacking such a metropolis.

Lord Bryce wasn't touting the virtues of the metropolis just for fun.

At the King's death, Lord Bryce arranged his Washington Memorial Service.

How Bryson may feel about being conflated with Lord Bryce is anybody's guess.