By Gary Dickson
Our school history books contain whitewashed information about many influential United States historical figures, as well as some of the history makers from other nations.
It is easy to understand why the lives of some of our country”s most famous leaders are sugarcoated in the history texts. It has been a while, but I remember that a lot of what was taught, especially in grade school, was to instill us with positive thoughts for our country and to provide role models to look up to. So, only the good deeds of our Founding Fathers and other American heroes are generally included.
During the past 50 years plenty of American leaders were guilty of some unsavory acts while in positions of great power and authority. Let me remind you of the Oval Office affair of Bill Clinton, Iran-Contra for Ronald Reagan and Watergate for Richard Nixon. Even two of the most influential reverends had blemishes. Jesse Jackson had an affair that produced a child and Martin Luther King had FBI-documented extramarital affairs and plagiarized portions of his doctoral thesis and most famous speech.
We are led to believe that America ”s earliest leaders, as well as some well known international historic figures, didn”t have any skeletons in their closet. The truth is that many of them were not as squeaky clean as the schoolbooks depict them.
We are told that George Washington, who led a rag-tag army to victory over the powerful English empire, could never tell a lie. He was good at manipulating his words, though. When General Washington was placed in charge of the army, he refused a salary. He said that he did not want to profit from serving the new country. Instead, he asked for an expense account only. Over the course of the war he was paid $449,261.51. His salary would have been about $12,000. He asked for the same arrangement as president, but was wisely turned down and given a $25,000 per year salary instead. Textbooks tout that Washington led the army without pay, but rarely mention the lucrative expense account.
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, also wrote, “The amalgamation of whites with blacks produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of the excellence in the human character, can innocently consent.” Jefferson proceeded to have an affair with his own black slave, Sally Hemings. DNA testing has proved that at least one of Heming”s children was procreated by this famous Founding Father.
Winston Churchill, one of England ”s greatest statesmen and heroes, also showed a dark side. His writings indicate that the man who told England to “Never, never, never give up,” had a racist, anti-Jewish bent. He wrote, “I do not understand the squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favor of using poisonous gas against uncivilised tribes.”
Recently, I listened to a speech in which the greatness of Ghandi was mentioned. There is no question that Ghandi did wonderful things for India , but today he might be arrested for his bizarre sexual behavior. Ghandi enjoyed sleeping nude with naked teenage girls, which he said was to constantly test his vow of celibacy.
There are many other examples, but space is limited. My goal is not to destroy positive opinions about historical figures. What I wish to convey is that even the people an entire country celebrates may have stubbed their toe from time-to-time during their lifetime. The fact that they erred obviously did not keep them from achieving greatness or from being held in high esteem by millions of people.
We all make poor choices at times. That should not keep us from doing good deeds down the road. I have found a clause from the Optimist Creed helpful. It tells us to “?forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.”
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
