DEFY HIS ADMINISTRATION’S OWN
HEALTH GUIDELINES, MAKING NO
CALL FOR CALM AS PROTESTS ERUPT
ACROSS THE NATION AND ATTACKING
RIVALS ON TWITTER.
HISTORIAN MICHAEL BESCHLOSS,
IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU TODAY.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF ALL
THESE CRISES ON THE PRESIDENCY
AND HIS REELECTION EFFORTS?
>> YOU’RE SO RIGHT, ANDREA, THIS
IS A MOMENT OF A KIND WE’VE
NEVER SEEN BEFORE, THE
CORONAVIRUS.
IT’S GETTING WORSE THAN EVER.
YOU HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO LARGELY
IS PRETENDING IT’S NOT HAPPENING
AND TRYING TO PRETEND THAT
THINGS ARE A LOT BETTER THAN
THEY REALLY ARE.
AT THE SAME TIME YOU’VE GOT A
CRISIS IN THE ECONOMY, WHICH IS
CAUSING A LOT OF AMERICAN
FAMILIES TO BE TERRIFIED AND
SUFFERING.
AGAIN, WHEN THE PRESIDENT GOT
THE NEWS THIS WEEK ABOUT
UNEMPLOYMENT, IT WAS ALMOST LIKE
HER BETTER HOOVER IN PATRIOTIC
AND WOULD HELP HIM POLITICALLY
TO PRETEND THAT WE WERE BETTER
OFF IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION THAN
WE REALLY WERE.
AND THE OTHER THING IS LAW AND
ORDER.
YOU KNOW, THE PRESIDENT KEEPS ON
TWEETING ABOUT LAW AND ORDER.
THAT HELPED RICHARD NIXON AND
GEORGE WALLACE IN 1968.
THIS IS A VERY DIFFERENT COUNTRY
WE’VE SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH.
PEOPLE ARE CONCERNED,
JUSTIFIABLY, ABOUT PUBLIC
SAFETY, BUT THEY ALSO WANT EQUAL
JUSTICE.
>> AND WHEN RICHARD NIXON AND
GEORGE WALLACE WERE FOCUSING ON
LAW AND ORDER, AND IT CERTAINLY
SEEMED TO WORK FOR NIXON IN ’68
AND AGAIN IN ’72, IN FACT,
PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED BY THE
PANDEMIC IN SUCH A PERSONAL WAY.
THEY CAN’T BE MISLED.
THEY SEE IT AROUND THEM, THEY’RE
ALL AFFECTED RKTS THEY’RE, THEY’
AFRAID.
NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE IN THIS
COUNTRY THEY’RE AFRAID, RED,
WHITE OR BLUE.
>> WE ALL ARE AFFECTED.
YOU HAVE PHO ASKTO ASK THE QUEST
DONALD TRUMP USING EVERY
PRESIDENTIAL PATH AVAILABLE TO
HIM.
IS HE TRYING TO AVERT THE
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS AND DOING
SOMETHING HE SHOULD NOT DO AND
ARE PEOPLE DYING IN A WAY WE
HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE?
>> LET’S TALK ABOUT THE STATUES,
HIS NEW THREAT, AS A MATTER OF
FACT, TO VETO THE ENTIRE DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION BILL WHICH HAS 90
VOTES IN THE SENATE BECAUSE OF AN AMENDMENT FROM ELIZABETH
AN AMENDMENT FROM ELIZABETH
WARREN AND OTHERS TO RENAME FORT
BENNING, FORT BRAGG, THE
CONFEDERATE GENERALS WHO WERE
NAMED IN THOSE BASES.
WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT?
THERE ARE PEOPLE ARGUING THAT
WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON, JACKSON
AND OTHERS WHO HAD -- WHO WERE
SLAVE OWNERS, EVEN ULYSSES S.
GRANT HAD A SLAVE FROM HIS
FATHER AS A WEDDING GIFT -- THAT
THEY SHOULD BE IN A DIFFERENT
CATEGORY THAN CONFEDERATE
LEADERS WHO WERE TRADERS OF THE
COUNTRY IN FORMATION OF THE
UNION.
>> THESE DECISIONS WILL HAVE TO
BE MADE ONE BY ONE.
I THINK IT’S OUTRAGEOUS THAT THE
PRESIDENT WOULD EVEN DREAM OF
JEOPARDIZING OUR NATIONAL
SECURITY BY VETOING THE DEFENSE
BILL IN ORDER TO PROTECT
CONFEDERATE GENERALS AND
CONFEDERATE SYMBOLS.
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO WERE
TRADERS TO THIS COUNTRY, WHO
VIOLATED THEIR OATH TO PROTECT
THE UNION OF THE UNITED STATES,
AND WERE DOING SO IN ORDER TO
KEEP HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE
ENSLAVED.
HARD FOR ME TO SEE THERE IS ANY
JUSTIFICATION FOR THOSE STATUES
AND MEMORIALS WE’RE MANNING.
FOR 200 YEARS AND MORE, WE
AMERICANS HAVE PUT UP STATUES
AND MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS, AND
WE’VE EVEN TAKEN SOME DOWN
BECAUSE LATER ON WE BEGAN TO
FEEL IT’S NOT RIGHT FOR THE
GOVERNMENT TO PUT THESE PEOPLE
IN PLACES OF HONOR AND ASK ALL
OF US TO PAY TAX DOLLARS TO
SUPPORT IT.
WE’RE SEEING SOMETHING RIGHT NOW
THAT IS VERY MUCH IN THAT
TRADITION OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
>> EVEN BEN FRANKLIN WAS
ORIGINALLY A SLAVE OWNER AND
CAME TO BECOME A LEADING
ABOLITIONIST, SO EVERYONE HAS A
MIXED HISTORY HERE.
WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT A WOODROW
WILSON WHO HAD MANY NOTEWORTHY
ACHIEVEMENTS BUT WAS A RACIST, A
SEGREGATIONIST, AND PRINCETON
HAS DECIDED TO RENAME THE WILSON
SCHOOL IN A LANDMARK DECISION,
OR ACCELERATE THE RENAMING OF
IT?
WHAT ABOUT WOODROW WILSON?
>> YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE
WHO WERE SLAVE OWNERS BUT NOT
NECESSARILY CONFEDERATE GENERALS
OR CONFEDERATE SYMPATHIZERS.
THAT’S WHY THESE MEMORIALS AND
STATUES HAVE TO BE DECIDED
ALMOST ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS.
WHEN YOU WRITE A BOOK ABOUT
SOMEONE LIKE ANDREW JACKSON, YOU
HAVE TO SAY HE WAS HORRIBLE TO
SLAVE OWNERS AND YET DID SOME
GREAT THINGS.
AS FAR AS WOODROW WILSON WAS
CONCERNED, FOR A LONG TIME I’VE
BEEN SAYING WOODROW WILSON’S
NAME DOES NOT BELONG ON A SCHOOL
IN PRINCETON AND A LOT OF OTHER
PLACES BOTH BECAUSE HE WAS A
RACIST AND IN MANY WAYS HE WAS A
TERRIBLE PRESIDENT.
ESPECIALLY THIS SCHOOL AT
PRINCETON WHICH IS DESIGNED TO
TEACH PEOPLE ABOUT LEADERSHIP
AND PUBLIC SERVICE.
HOW DO YOU DO THAT IF IT’S A
SCHOOL NAMED AFTER SOMEONE WHO
WAS NOT ONLY A RACIST BUT
SOMETHING THAT IS EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT TO US THIS YEAR, WHICH
IS SOMEONE WHO WAS PRESIDENT
WHEN 675,000 AMERICANS-PLUS DIED
OF AN INFLUENZA PANDEMIC THAT HE
DID ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT, DIDN’T
SPEAK ABOUT, DIDN’T WARN
AMERICANS ABOUT, DIDN’T GIVE A