Since I did a post about Grant (sort of), I thought I’d share with you this article that Stan Dubinsky brought to my attention this morning:
How Did Robert E. Lee Become an American Icon?
After President Dwight D. Eisenhower revealed on national television that one of the four “great Americans” whose pictures hung in his office was none other than Robert E. Lee, a thoroughly perplexed New York dentist reminded him that Lee had devoted “his best efforts to the destruction of the United States government” and confessed that since he could not see “how any American can include Robert E. Lee as a person to be emulated, why the President of the United States of America should do so is certainly beyond me.” Eisenhower replied personally and without hesitation, explaining that Lee was, “in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation. … selfless almost to a fault … noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history. From deep conviction I simply say this: a nation of men of Lee’s caliber would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities … we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained.”
Related Posts
The dentist was wrong: Lee never tried to destroy the U.S. government. While I have little patience with those who yearn for the vanished glories of the Confederacy, Lee is a worthy personal model for any public servant.
This is why I don’t go to my dentist for history lessons.