March 5
On This Day In 2018
Two GOP presidents faced similar issues, six decades apart. Whose reaction do you prefer?
OTDI 2018, nearly 200 non-violent protestors objecting to a GOP policy were arrested in D.C. But they were lucky that Trump wasn’t paying attention to them. Because the way Trump talks about dealing with civil issues contrasts profoundly to how one of his GOP predecessors actually did deal with a volatile moment in our history.
President Eisenhower on civil rights enforcement, 1957: When a landmark SCOTUS judgment ordered Little Rock High School to desegregate, conservative GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne to escort Black students safely into the building. He then addressed the nation to explain that courts must be obeyed and that “it would be difficult to exaggerate the harm that is being done to the prestige and influence, and indeed to the safety, of our nation.”
Compare that to
President Trump on civil rights enforcement, 2020: When the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers sparked protests, Trump told state and local officials: “You have to dominate or you’ll look like a bunch of jerks, you have to arrest and try people.” You need “retribution,” he added.
And if protesters had breached the White House fence, they would “have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.” He warned local officials to “get MUCH tougher” or the federal government “will step in and do what has to be done, and that includes using the unlimited power of our Military.”
“The Damage Trump Has Done This Week Extends Far Beyond America’s Borders,” says the NYT's op ed headline.
As historian @marydudziak wrote, Eisenhower used military force to protect civil rights, while Trump encouraged military force to suppress civil rights. Ike sent troops to Little Rock to restore “the image of America and all of its parts as one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Trump called the camo-clad soldiers at the Lincoln Memorial the work of “your president of law & order.”
What has happened to the once-noble GOP?
Sources/Links for further reading
Eisenhower’s speech on Little Rock is here
CNN reports on the George Floyd protests
Trump’s urging local officials to use more force was reported by CNN
CNN repeated Trump’s pledge to use vicious dogs and ominous weapons
Mary L. Dudziak’s New York Times op ed is an important read
Summary: 2 GOP presidents, Trump vs Ike: Similar issues. Ike used the military to enforce civil rights, Trump uses it to threaten Americans. | The GOP has changed.