Visiting the past U.S. Presidents

Val and I were in Washington, D.C. for a week. He attended a training course in the city and I was on vacation mode, fresh from boot camp. While he was in class, I took the time to learn more about U.S. history.  

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The incumbent U.S. president, Donald Trump, is the country's 45th. He is standing on the shoulders of giants, those men who have founded the United States of America and those who led it through some of its more tumultuous moments. I visited memorials of some of these past presidents, hoping to learn more about their legacies and why some of them are regarded as the greatest among those who led this 243-year old country.

George Washington

The first president of the U.S., he was recognised for leading the U.S. to independence during the American Revolution. His battle victories against the military prowess of the British were attributed to his capacity to keep the American army flexible and tight. His were relatively small wins but were able to boost the morale of people wanting to break off from the British Empire. After gaining the new country's independence, his next public task (as its president) was to define and to strengthen its federal government. In his farewell address, he said, 

It is important... that the habits of thinking in a free Country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective Constitutional Spheres; avoiding in the exercise of the Powers of one department to encroach upon another.

He also is known as the role model for future presidents: he set the precedent for peaceful transition of leadership several times... a legacy that not all presidents (particularly in other countries) can say they made. After being the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and after being the country's first president, he always wanted to retire to private life. He once said,

Having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire from the great theatre of Action.

This definitely cannot be said of former Philippine presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who currently is a Congresswoman, and Joseph Estrada, who currently is the Mayor of Manila... they definitely did not read his playbook.

He supported placing the young nation's capital where it is now, on the banks of the Potomac River. Towering over this city designed by Pierre L'Enfant is the Washington Monument, the world's tallest obelisk... which serves as a memorial for George Washington. Compared to the Jefferson and the Lincoln memorials, this one is plain: no European architecture; no gigantic statues. Just one towering obelisk. 

But why represent the country's father with an Egyptian symbol? 

According to the National Park Service website, the Washington Monument was supposed to evoke the "timelessness of ancient civilisations". The Smithsonian says that Americans in the 1800s had "Egyptomania"; the nation wanted to establish its own ancient roots, perhaps to show that it is also long-lasting... eternal, if you will. 

Being first, George Washington is a tough act to follow for the subsequent presidents. He is, after all, considered one of the country's three greatest presidents. How do the rest of the presidents compare to him?

Thomas Jefferson

He is known as one of the U.S.'s Founding Fathers, who led the writing of the Declaration of Independence, and who advocated religious freedom and tolerance. His memorial is found on one side of the Tidal Basin. Seeing it, I realised why it's one of America's favourite buildings in terms of architecture. It's so beautiful. The white marble just gleamed in the yellowish light of the spring day.

As I got closer, I realised just how massive the memorial is... as if the building was getting larger and larger as I got closer. This is the opposite of the experience I got whenever I came close to a Disneyland Castle. Anyway, when I got there, I arrived in time to see students on field trips. Some where just interested in taking photos with their friends while others were busy jotting down notes (presumably about the memorial).

Inside the building, I saw a larger than life statue of Jefferson. On the walls were excerpts from various sources. Some of my faves are:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

– Declaration of Independence (1776) 

... all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.

– Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom (1777)

Nothing is more certainly written in the Book of Fate than that these people are to be free.

– Jefferson's autobiography (1821)

Establish the law for educating the common people.

– Jefferson's letter to George Wythe (1790)

To me, he sounded like an idealist. It's not clear what his views about African-Americans and American Indians were, from these quotes, but he certainly believed that these peoples have human rights. He clearly supported the acquisition of knowledge, believing that democracy thrives when the government's citizens are enlightened. It is hard not to compare his ideals with what will appear to be the more recent presidents' legacies. It is very expensive to get higher education in the U.S. such that people pay high interest rates on their student loans; how can the common people be enlightened? People are supposed to be free to speak about their religious beliefs; but why are greetings like "Merry Christmas" discouraged and replaced by "Happy Holidays"? If men are created equal, why do certain ethnicities and genders experience discrimination and pay gaps?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

His memorial turned out to be the most friendly to wheelchair-bound visitors. I liked that because Roosevelt himself was in a wheelchair. What I didn't know until this trip was that he actually served as president for FOUR terms! 

As president, Roosevelt had to deal with the repercussions of the Great Depression. His administration developed many social programmes designed to support the poor. He reached out directly to his constituents through "fireside chats", those radio programs that allowed him to explain government policies and quash rumours. Perhaps, these are what Twitter posts are to Presidents Obama and Trump. But what reminded me most about these fireside chats was the movie The King's Speech because King George V used radio broadcasts to talk directly to United Kingdom's subjects.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

He ran for an unprecedented third term, apparently because he felt that he was best equipped to lead the country during World War II. He also won his fourth term, something never done by any president of the U.S.; he died soon after getting elected, and right before World War II ended. His presidency established the U.S. as a leader and a defender of human rights all over the world. Walking through his memorial and learning about his presidential achievements, I started to see why he is deemed as one of the three greatest U.S. presidents.

In light of current attitudes towards diversity and isolationism, I wonder how the rest of the world will see the U.S. in the near future. Will its politicians safeguard the country's global leadership role and manage to maintain the hero (Captain America?) image or will they take the reputational risk and allow other countries to take on the defender role? How will the next generation react to what today's politicians are doing?

Abraham Lincoln

His memorial is yet another grand one, looking like a Greek temple. From afar, I could imagine that this is Mount Olympus, home to Zeus. It's such a sight to behold... and with tired legs, I felt like it took me forever to reach the shrine. Also, this memorial is so full of symbolism that art scholars probably just sit there and soak it all in. For example, the columns that support the memorial are said to represent the Union of the 36 states already part of the U.S. during his presidency. It's the architectural version of "united, we stand; divided, we fall". Truly a fitting memorial to what the U.S. deems to be one of its three greatest presidents.

Inside, I finally saw the statue of Honest Abe. Its size evokes his gravitas and his contributions to the preservation of the Union amidst the Civil War. He sits with his hands over what I thought are strangely oversized books. But according to the National Park Service, these are "fasces" (bundle of rods tied together by a leather thong), which are a symbol of the ruler's power and authority during the ancient times. The fasces can also be taken as a symbol of the country's motto: "E Pluribus Unum" ("Out of Many, One").

One of the driving forces of the American Civil War is the differing views about the enslavement of the black people, effectively dividing the nation into two factions: the northern states wanted to abolish slavery while the southern states wanted to keep their "rights" to have slaves. Lincoln's presidency is marked by policies that led to the ending of slavery. He was driven by the belief that America, the nation, is defined in its Declaration of Independence. In fact, he said in his Gettysburg Address (a speech I memorised in grade school, and is one of my favourite oratories) during the Civil War,

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.... This nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.

More importantly, I think, his presidency is marked by saving the Union. In his second inaugural address, he focused on reconciling the two factions. He said,

With malice towards none, with charity for all, with with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in: to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan–to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and will all nations.

"The United States of America" became truly one nation, strengthened by the aftermath of the Civil War through Lincoln's effective leadership. I now have a bit of an understanding why he is counted as one the country's greatest presidents; and why the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural speech adorn two of the three chambers of the Lincoln Memorial.

John F. Kennedy

Camelot. That's what I have associated the Kennedy brand with, largely thanks to the efforts of his wife, Jackie, to keep an ideal image of the former president. He is also known as the president who was assassinated while he was in a motorcade. I had to do more research to find out what his presidency was about.

John F. Kennedy presided over the country during the Cold War and is mostly known for managing (tense) relationships with the USSR. He also defined the U.S. goal was in the space race: to be the first nation to send man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth. In terms of immigration policies, his were focused on family reunification. Naturalisation laws were amended to remove discrimination based on nation of origin.

His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where Jackie lit the eternal flame. 

Some of his more popular quotes are engraved in his memorial. 

Kennedy was known for the tensions that led to the Cuban missile crisis, which nearly placed the world in a nuclear war (which potentially could be more devastating than the previous world wars). He did say, 

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

I found this quote to be ironic because he also said,

World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbour; it requires only that they live together with mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.

He appeared to be in search of peace, even through the Cold War. Under his leadership, the Peace Corps was established. Also during his presidency (and the latter part of Dwight Eisenhower's), the International Rice Research Institute began finding solutions to avert the impending Asian food shortage of the 1960s. Similar efforts were made by other agricultural institutes in Central and South America.

William Howard Taft

His name is often mentioned in Philippine history classes because he was the first governor-general of the Philippine Commission, setting up legislature and judicial systems in what was then a U.S. commonwealth territory. A major thoroughfare in Manila has been named after him. But I didn't know that he also became a U.S. president (because the world history syllabus I followed in school typically went through great detail about Greek and Roman empires, Spanish and Portuguese empires, and Chinese dynasties; but it didn't quite reach modern history). And that is why I was quite happy to learn a bit more about him after I passed by his memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. 

The tour guide at the cemetery mentioned that his wife is the reason why Washington, D.C.'s aesthetic is enhanced by Japanese cherry blossom trees every spring.

But the man himself? Historians say that he wasn't as accomplished as other presidents: he wasn't a great orator or writer; he was a people-pleaser; and he displayed weak leadership capacity. His presidency was characterised as "middle of the road". His philosophy about taking sides is reflected by this quote:

Enthusiasm for a cause warps judgment.

However, he proved to be a brilliant Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (so, yeah, he led both the executive and the judicial branches of government in different times of his career). Of the Supreme Court, he said,

Presidents come and go but the Supreme Court goes on forever.

Ulysses S. Grant

I first came across his name in a novel in the Reader's Digest, a story (I don't know if details have been fictionalised) about his and Robert E. Lee's leadership in the American Civil War. He led the northern states to victory as General of all Union armies and he ensured that the slaves and their children, who were able to cross into Union territory, were cared for. 

He viewed war as a way to peace, very much like Kennedy. He is known for saying,

I have never advocated for war except as a means for peace.

His memorial is a statue of him on horseback, very calm and composed, as if calculating his troop's next move as the fighting went on. His outlook was simple and reflected perseverance and focus:

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.

His statue is surrounded by four lions, all very poised and regal, all alert and guarding over something (the one in the picture appears to be guarding over a flag). Quite frankly, these are probably some of the most beautiful lion statues I've seen in the D.C. area. 

On either side of his statue are representations of his troops, showing how intense the fighting must have been for the soldiers. This dogged determination is reflected in one of Grant's quotes:

Everyone has his superstitions. One of mine has always been when I started to go anywhere, or to do anything, never to turn back or to stop until the thing intended was accomplished.

At the end of the war, over 2000 soldiers were unidentifiable and were buried at Arlington's Civil War Unknowns Memorial. 

He eventually became a U.S. president. In this position, his government's lasting legacy includes giving African-Americans their right to vote, protecting American Indians from people who wanted to take their lands, attempting to provide free education for anyone who wanted it, and improving foreign relations (particularly with the United Kingdom). However, this brilliant general in the battlefield is considered a weak president. He was not able to clean up the ranks of corrupt officials probably because of his loyalty to those who fought with him or because he just didn't want to be part of the politics game. Despite the corruption in his administration, he was not involved in any of it; but his inability to remove corruption contributed to the weakening of the executive branch and the strengthening of the legislative branch. He knew of his weaknesses as leader of the country. When he spoke for the last time as president, he said,

It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous training.

The presidents, who are memorialised in the country's capital, have legacies and mythos that stood the test of time. Their words have power and many defined the path that the U.S. would take to become the nation that it is today. And that is why their memorials are peppered with their words of wisdom.

Three presidents are considered the greatest: Lincoln, Washington, and Roosevelt. As I sat near the base of the Washington Monument, reflecting upon what I've learned during my walks at the National Mall and at Arlington, and as I read further about the past presidents whose memorials I encountered on this trip, I started to see why they are considered the cream of the crop:

They were the presidents who moulded the nation into what is now the United States of America. Washington led the newly independent country. Lincoln saved the country from itself and strengthened the union. Roosevelt established the U.S. as a global leader in the 20th century. All of them emerged as well-respected leaders. Tough acts to follow for the presidents that came after them. However, it must be said that their legacies were always based on or in reaction to platforms, philosophies, and culture (prevailing domestically and abroad) before they came to power and during their time in office. 

I wonder how history will judge the more recent presidents. Quoting from the playwright John Fletcher, 

Of all the forms of wisdom, hindsight is by general consent the least merciful, the most unforgiving.

Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt all stood the test of time. How about the others?