Robert E. Lee Echoing Lincoln
In the August 25 Washington Post op-ed page, Eugene Robinson revealed a side of Robert E. Lee that runs against the grain of many who wish to celebrate his memory with public statues: after the Civil War, the general warned against erecting Civil War monuments in Gettysburg (one may infer that he referred to both Union and Confederate monuments): “I think it wiser,” said Lee, “not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the example of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”
Echoes of Lincoln, right down to the metaphor of wounds to the body politic, ring uncannily. In his second inaugural address—made less than a month before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox—Lincoln urged, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds. . . .”
This softens the picture of Lee, who was, by any definition of treason, a traitor to his country. A traitor, moreover, who chose to defend a government founded on the monstrosity of slavery.
Traitor and/or Martyr? Grant Balks, Lee Walks
After Ulysses S. Grant became president, he resisted calls to have Lee tried for treason, out of the concern that doing so would make Lee a martyr. It seemed like a wise move at the time, but you have to wonder if we are better or worse off today because of it. Although in some ways Lee was an honorable man, treason is treason, and those who commit it should be called to account. There was a middle way: if Lee had been tried and convicted of treason, Grant could have pardoned him, or commuted his sentence (which presumably would have been execution) with a lofty speech citing what virtues Lee had—although that might have cost Grant the next election.
Jefferson Davis’s judgment on Confederate monuments fell in line with Lee’s. In addition, Davis (who was indicted although not tried for treason) counseled the retirement of the Confederate flag itself: “My pride is that that flag shall not set between contending brothers; and that, when it shall no longer be the common flag of the country, it shall be folded up and laid away like a vesture no longer used.”
Needless to say, as the century wore on, the counsels of Lee and Davis were ignored by those Southerners who zealously kept the fires of Confederate cause burning. Once Reconstruction ended, they not only began to erect monuments to Lee and other traitors, but also carried out a reign of terror against African Americans—the latter, as they saw it, to blame for the humiliation of their “nation.”
Poll Gives Nod to Jefferson Davis over Obama—among Trump Voters
Where we are on these issues today is reflected in a recent poll that found 36 percent of Americans viewed Robert E. Lee favorably. But the real stunner, poll-wise, was that 45% of Trump voters would pick Jefferson Davis over Barack Obama for president. (Or is it a stunner?) Obama got 21% from the same segment, so presumably 34% could not make up their minds. Really. See link below: