Abraham Lincoln & January 6th

Review by Bill Doughty––

This “found haiku” comes from Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum Address in Springfield, Illinois on January 27, 1838:

Reason must furnish

all the materials for

our future support

The speech is quoted in one of the four forewords in the massive “The January 6th Report: Findings from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol” (December 2022, U.S. Government Publishing Office).

In fact, Lincoln appears on the very first page of the report.

Representative Adam Schiff, author and finisher of the J6 Report, recounts how Lincoln –– then a state legislator in Illinois –– addressed young men about a rebellious time of mob violence, including lynchings, general crimes, and disregard for the rule of law. Lincoln chose to speak about "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions.”

In Schiff’s words, Lincoln spoke about internal threats “not the threat of foreign invasion, even though the War of 1812 was only two decades past. It was the danger from within that a young Lincoln identified as our gravest threat.”

Lincoln is also quoted in the second foreword to the book by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: “Let us always honor our oath to, as Abraham Lincoln said, ‘nobly save or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.’ So help us God.”

In the third foreword to the book, chairman of the committee Rep. Bernie Thompson says he was advised to remove his lapel pin so he wouldn’t be identified and targeted by attackers who threatened to kill legislators and the vice president. He chose not to remove his pin and thereby showed support for the defenders of the Capitol and against the attackers.

“We can never surrender to democracy’s enemies,” Thompson writes. “We can never allow America to be defined by forces of division and hatred. We can never go backward in the progress we have made through the sacrifice and dedication of true patriots. We can never and will never relent in our pursuit of a more perfect union, with liberty and justice for all Americans.”

Former Representative Liz Cheney, vice chair of the committee, opens the report’s fourth and final foreword with a story about Abraham Lincoln issuing the first call for volunteers for the Union Army in April 1861 and how her great-great grandfather, Samuel Fletcher Cheney signed up for the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Cheney, a Republican like Lincoln, writes: “I have found myself thinking often, especially since January 6th, of my great-great grandfather, and all those in every generation who have sacrificed so much for (quoting OVI’s regimental historian Silas Canfield) “the unity of our Nation and the perpetuity of our institutions.”

Cheney says, “At the heart of our republic is the guarantee of the peaceful transfer of power.”

Cheney notes how General George Washington resigned his commission and handed control of the Continental Army back to Congress. (When Washington’s term as president ended, he rejected calls by some to remain in office as dictator.)

This bipartisan report features a comprehensive Executive Summary that encapsulates the main thrust of the investigation and its findings in the report. Within the summary is a list of witnesses, nearly five dozen of whom are registered Republicans. Only one witness, the Secretary of State of Michigan, is identified as a Democrat.

Most of the report, itself, is a “Narrative” in 8 chapters that explores: the Big Lie of a stolen election, the scheme of fake electors, the plan to block certification of the election by the vice president, the invitation of then-President Trump to come to D.C. and march to the Capitol to “fight like hell,” an examination of the role of far right extremists in the insurrection, and “187 minutes of dereliction” in which the commander in chief chose not to call off the rioters nor order DOD to send the national guard to defend the Senate and House of Representatives.

The long “narrative” is excellent writing: True historical storytelling in the tradition of David McCullough; careful citing of facts and sources in the vein of Craig Symonds; and drama and suspense –– especially during the actual lead-up and breaching of the Capitol –– in the style of Tom Clancy. As with the Executive Summary, there are extensive endnotes throughout.

Military readers will be interested in reading two of the appendices: Government Agency Preparation for and Response to January 6th, and DC National Guard Preparation for and Response to January 6th.

The report cites what one witness called “decision paralysis” and “decision avoidance.” Army leaders were “sensitive to the sight of troops near the site of the congressional certification of electoral votes.” The report examines “fears of politicizing the military in an anti-democratic manner” in the wake of the heavy handed National Guard confrontation with protesters in the summer of 2020, which included low-flying military helicopters. The Guard was deployed and used chemical agents to clear Lafayette Square for Trump’s photo-op holding up a Bible at St. John’s Church.

While the report has been criticized by some progressives for not examining the motivation and role of Christian Nationalism specifically, the report does mention QAnon Shaman Jacob “Angeli” Chansley’s leading of a “conspiracy-laden prayer session” at the Senate dais after shouting “Mike Pence is a f—ing traitor” at the spot where Pence had been presiding. Chansley left a note that read: “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming.”

The committee thoroughly investigated the actions of other QAnon conspiracy believers and white nationalists. Chapter 6, “Be There, Will Be Wild,” examines extremist militia groups such as The Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers, and The Three Percenters.”

More than 1,000 rioters have been indicted since the insurrection. Many remain in jail and many more have been stained with a criminal record. While some have had their lives ruined, others, like Chansley, who has already been released from prison, are cashing in on their fame and hardening their support with the far right. Some key leaders and planners of the attack are facing much longer prison terms.

Since publication of The January 6th Report, the most serious convictions have occurred among military veterans who in many ways led the attack. On May 4, five members of the Proud Boys were convicted of various charges, including four members convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Last week, on May 25, the Department of Justice announced: “Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, and Kelly Meggs, the leader of the Florida chapter of the organization, were sentenced today for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”

Rhodes, an Army veteran from Texas, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, “the longest sentence, to date, related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.” Fellow militia leader Meggs received a sentence of 12 years. “This is the first time a court has found that a defendant’s conduct related to the January 6 attack was tantamount to terrorism warranting an upward departure under the sentencing guidelines,” according to DOJ.

“Today’s sentences reflect the grave threat the actions of these defendants posed to our democratic institutions,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The United States proved at trial that the Oath Keepers plotted for months to violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. The Justice Department will continue to do everything in our power to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6th attack on our democracy.” 

It’s becoming clear that there is a litmus test for who will be elected as the next President and commander in chief of the military next year: Voters will choose between those who believe in accountability for those who stormed the Capitol and those who promise pardons for the seditionists and rioters such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

Rep. Adam Schiff

The “Oath Keepers” name seems Orwellian when one considers the actual oath all military service members take to support and defend the Constitution –– and a similar oath civilian leaders take to support the Constitution –– the foundational document that outlines the peaceful transfer of power.

Representative Schiff said this about the Constitution and the oath:

“Even the most brilliant Constitution cannot protect us if the people sworn to uphold it do not give meaning to their oath of office, if that oath is not informed by ideas of right and wrong, and if people are unwilling to accept the basic truth of things. None of it will be enough.

But if we allow ourselves to be guided by facts –– not faction –– if we choose our representatives based on their allegiance to the law and the Constitution, then we should have every confidence that our proud legacy of self-government will go on.”

That’s the accountability, respect for truth and justice, and faith in the rule of law Lincoln spoke about in the Lyceum Address, “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions.”

Lincoln believed in an informed electorate, honest leaders, and support for the Constitution and rule of law, which he called “the political religion of our nation.”

with other pillars,

hewn from the solid quarry

of sober reason

Pillars of logic and reason found in the Constitution support our democracy.

There's more “found haiku” from Abe Lincoln and others on Navy Reads.

Memorial Day Sacrifice: True Patriotism

By Bill Doughty––

After reading the comprehensive January 6th Report by the Ninetieth Congress House of Representatives select committee, I keep reflecting on a line in one of the report’s forewords. Committee chairman, Bernie Thompson, wrote this: We can never go backward in the progress we have made through the sacrifice and dedication of true patriots. We can never and will never relent in our pursuit of a more perfect union, with liberty and justice for all Americans.”

Memorial Day, is an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the sacrifices of individuals and families who paid the ultimate price for freedom and upholding of the Constitution and rule of law as true patriots.

On Friday, May 26, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin served as keynote speaker at Annapolis and delivered the commencement address to the 2023 graduating class at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Austin told the new Navy ensigns and Marine Corps second lieutenants they can be justifiably proud of their achievements, commitment to serve, and willingness to defend the Constitution and uphold an honorable ethos. 

“You seek wisdom. You practice discipline. You treat others with dignity and respect. And you will defend our democracy with honor, courage, and commitment. You know, those values aren’t just words that you recite. Those values are who you are. And that’s how I know that you are ready for the challenges ahead,” Austin said.

“As one of your predecessors once said, ‘We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.’That was President Jimmy Carter, Class of 1947,” Austin said, to applause. “And I’m proud that one of this school’s most distinguished alumni—a man of deep faith and a champion of human rights—is now honored on the Yard with the naming of Carter Hall.”

Austin also cited other distinguished graduates of the Academy, including Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, Adm. Michelle Howard, Adm. Mike Mullen, and John McCain.

Austin invoked the memory of sacrifices of military service members in past wars. “Ladies and gentlemen, look around you,” he said. “This stadium reminds us of the great battles in which those who came before you fought to defend democracy. Belleau Wood. Guadalcanal. Iwo Jima. Inchon. But what you don’t see here is all the battles that never occurred, all the wars that never erupted—because American Sailors and Marines showed up. They deterred conflict. They kept the watch. And they reminded the world of what America stands for.”

Austin added, “Class of 2023, wherever your career takes you, remind the world of what you stand for—and what America stands for: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. Democracy, Liberty, and the rule of law.” As true patriots.

The next day, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point’s 2023 graduating class. She said, “Each and every day, America's service members demonstrate extraordinary skill, dedication, and discipline. They are willing to sacrifice everything to protect the lives and liberty of people they may never meet. And I believe there is no more noble work that a person can do than to serve our nation in uniform. And today, then, to the Class of 2023: You join the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen … Our military is a force that underwrites global stability and our national security.”

Harris, who is the first woman to give a commencement address in West Point’s history, told graduates they are “leaders of character” will be tasked with essential leadership roles in defending the nation’s highest ideals.

She advised them to be guided by their oath to the U.S. Constitution “in all that you do.”

"You will take an oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America’ and, by extension, to support and defend our most sacred ideals: freedom, democracy, and rule of law.”

(American flag watercolor image courtesy of Francine Sreca, Pixabay.)

The Nimitz We Need Now

Review by Bill Doughty––

Historian Ian Toll calls Clyde Symonds’s new book “The greatest biography yet written about the greatest admiral in American history.” The book is “Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay” (Oxford University Press, 2022).

This book compiles well-known Nimitz information during the war in the Pacific and spices the narrative with new flavors: what Nimitz was saying to colleagues, writing in letters to family, and doing in his limited spare time with friends in Hawaii during the war. Symonds seems to get into the mind of the great admiral “behind those cool blue eyes, impassive expression, and enigmatic demeanor.”

Nimitz was serious but did not take himself too seriously. He was known for storytelling, and he enjoyed 

a good ribald joke, which Symonds relays in “Nimitz at War.” Readers will smile at Nimitz’s hotel joke, what he said to his daughter about praying in church, how he joked about his missing half ring finger, and how he labeled his toilet paper at his Makalapa home.

This biography is bracketed almost entirely to the war years, starting with Nimitz’s arrival to a devastated Pearl Harbor. It’s divided into four parts: Taking Command, The South Pacific, The Central Pacific Drive, and Dénouement. Using excellent sources, including contemporaneous correspondence and messages, oral histories, and especially the Nimitz Graybook, Symonds takes readers to Nimitz’s side during battles and campaigns in the Marshall Islands, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Aleutians, Philippine Sea, Saipan, Leyte Gulf, Okinawa, and more.

Marines at Betio during Battle of Tarawa

We get a gripping recounting of the intelligence preparations, training challenges, command tensions, and communications frustrations in the early 1940s. We read about Nimitz’s quiet “anxiety” in the lead-up to the Battle of Midway, for example, where Nimitz decided to trust Rochefort’s intelligence and ambush the then-powerful Imperial Japanese Navy. “It is difficult in hindsight to appreciation the boldness of that decision,” Symonds writes.

Nimitz had high regard for the Sailors and Marines he sent in harm’s way, including the heroic Marines who assaulted Betio and the fearless Marines who stormed Iwo Jima. Nimitz famously reported, “Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

The lives of Sailors, Marines, and Soldiers lost in combat weighed heavily on him, yet he was able to “compartmentalize” thanks to words of wisdom from his grandfather: “never to worry about things that were beyond his control.”

We read about Nimitz’s love for hiking and long walks, swimming in the ocean, playing horseshoes, and shooting at a pistol range at Makalapa.

Toll may be right that this is the best Nimitz biography considering the depth of the analysis, the plethora of photos, and the 15 fantastic maps and charts by Jeffrey L. Ward. What makes this book extra special is the way Symonds weaves relationships between Nimitz and other contemporary leaders: How E.J. King underestimated Nimitz, how Spruance and Halsey could be as different as ice and fire yet still be friends, and how MacArthur could be so obstinate and belligerent but still fail to steamroll Nimitz and the Navy despite continual efforts to challenge command authority.

Nimitz was in firm control of strategy during the U.S. Navy’s advancement across the Pacific. We see how he trusted and was supported by Spruance, Lockwood, Layton, Mitscher and others –– and how he met the challenges of dealing with Towers, Holland “Mad” Smith, Halsey, and especially MacArthur.

When Nimitz received his fifth star as Fleet Admiral he wanted Spruance to also receive a fifth star, but Washington instead awarded it to Halsey, whose brash and bombastic style caught the media’s attention much more so than Spruance’s quiet, diplomatic, and cerebral way. Symonds makes the case that Spruance deserves his more respected place in history.

Of course, like all humans, Nimitz was not a perfect person. Symonds calls the Texas hill country admiral “a product of his time and his culture” in that he avoided African American service members (with the notable exception of Messman Doris “Dorie” Miller, to whom Nimitz presented the Navy Cross for December 7 heroism). In 1943 there were no black officers in the Navy. And Nimitz also wanted no part in having women service members on his staff, disallowing WAVES from serving in the Pacific.

Relocating Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs) to concentration camps.

Still, Nimitz resisted persecution of Americans of Japanese ancestry (AJAs).

At the outset of the war, Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Army General John DeWitt pushed for relocation of AJAs.

DeWitt “instituted a program that eventually relocated some 120,000 Japanese Americans from California and other western states, miles inland.

In March of 1942 FDR approved a recommendation to remove 158,000 AJAs from Hawaii as well.

Although some relocation camps were set up in Hawaii, Nimitz thought the idea of removing AJAs from Hawaii was “neither necessary nor desirable.” Symonds writes: “It was not out of an enlightened concern for the civil rights of Japanese Americans; he simply recognized the practical limitations of such a policy.” Nimitz realized AJAs played a critical role in the local Hawaii economy.

Symonds shows how Nimitz dealt with many respected high-profile visitors, first in Hawaii and later in Guam. One of the guests who visited Pearl Harbor was first-lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who also toured Bora Bora, Aitutaki, Tutuila, and even Guadalcanal, helping raise the morale of fighting men there.

At the end of the war, Nimitz took a statesmanlike stance in ordering his officers enlisted Sailors and Marines to utter no more insults or epithets and to treat the defeated people of Japan with dignity: “Neither familiarity and open forgiveness nor abuse and vituperation should be permitted,” he ordered. 

Nimitz ended his career as Chief of Naval Operations, working for prickly Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. As CNO, Nimitz successfully fought for Navy independence during efforts to downsize and consolidate the military services after the war. “As strong a champion as he was of joint service and joint command, he fought hard to prevent the Navy from being subsumed altogether … His calm, non-confrontational manner acted as a balm to the fierce and sometimes better inter-service rivalries concerning unification, budgets, and national policy.”

Nimitz’s priorities, plans, and abilities –– especially his skill in dealing with challenging colleagues, subordinates, and senior leaders –– were the mark of brilliance. Though Ian Toll calls “Nimitz at War” a biography, Symonds claims it’s not:

“This is not a biography of Chester Nimitz. It is, instead, a close examination of his leadership during his three and a half years directing World War II in the Pacific Theater when his actions and decisions guided the course of the war and helped determine its outcome, the legacy of which we still live with today. In many ways, it is remarkable that he assumed such a role. National trauma –– social, political, economic, and military –– produces a cultural tension that can challenge democratic norms. In such circumstances, the loudest, most aggressive voices often assume leadership roles. During World War II, military and naval leaders such as Admiral Ernest J. King, General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral “Bull” Halsey, and General George Patton all rose to prominence. All were talented and competent. All were also larger-than-life figures whose temperament, stubbornness, self-assurance, and impatience characterized their leadership. They were, and are, polarizing figures.

“Nimitz, like Generals George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower, exemplified another leadership style, a quieter one that depended on intelligent listening, humility, and patience. Nimitz did not shrink from hard decisions –– he was, at critical moments, as bold as any commander in the war. Yet he believed that ultimate success depended on accommodation as well as determination, on humility as well as aggressiveness, on nurturing available human resources as well as asserting his authority. Rather than impose orders, he elicited solutions; he sought achievement, not attention. He unified. His was a quiet, calm, yet firm hand on the tiller during an existential crisis, and his leadership style reinforced rather than challenged democratic norms. It is a leadership template more relevant than ever.”

Symonds says his “focus and purpose” is to “re-create and evaluate” what Nimitz experienced and achieved in the 1,341 days of the war in the Pacific as he “commanded, directed, and supervised the largest naval force ever assembled in the largest naval war ever fought.”

As a result of his excellent presentation, Symonds also succeeds in profiling the type of leader we need not only in the Navy, but also for the United States itself: indeed, “a leadership template more relevant than ever.”