Winston Churchill, wartime leader and Trump opposite
Back in March, Donald Trump told reporters that, when it comes to his role regarding the Coronavirus (a/k/a COVID-19 or COVID):
I view it as, in a sense, a wartime president. I mean, that’s what we’re fighting.
Since then, however, Trump has acted quite the opposite of “a wartime president.” Instead, Trump has cut and run from COVID at every turn. Trump has failed to unite the country and take bold national steps to combat the virus. On the contrary, Trump has been as divisive as any president in U.S. history, whipping up a race war, teargassing peaceful protesters, and focusing on cultural shiny objects such as Bibles and Confederate statues. Moreover, in the face of further attacks on America by Russia, Trump has stood down and done nothing. This failure to unite and protect our nation is not only fatal in terms of lives, it is proving politically fatal to Trump and those Republicans who follow him.
Often, when we think of life during “wartime,” we think of England during World War 2. We might also think of America during that period. What Donald Trump has done, and failed to do, differs stunningly from what the national leaders did back then:
In England, the citizens faced the terror of daily bombings by the Germans, especially during “the Blitz” of London in 1940 and 1941:
The Blitz on London from September 1940 to May 1941 and the V1 flying bomb and V2 rocket attacks in 1944 caused a massive amount of damage. It is estimated that more than 12,000 metric tons of bombs were dropped on London and nearly 30,000 civilians were killed by enemy action. The worst hit places tended to be the poorer districts, like the East End, but all Londoners were affected by German air raids to a varying degree.
The Blitz changed the landscape of the city. Many famous landmarks were hit, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the Imperial War Museum.
Indeed, virtually no family in the United Kingdom was spared the sacrifice and tragedy of the war. For example, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) enrolled in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), where she was trained in auto mechanics and became a driver. Elizabeth’s uncle George, Duke of Kent, was killed in a plane crash during the war, while his brother Henry also served on active duty. Likewise, wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill‘s son Randolph served on active military duty during World War 2.
These British leaders, moreover, inspired their country with effective efforts and messages of unity. Churchill in particular is famous for rallying England with inspirational speeches (and, eventually, military victories) during its “darkest hour.” He was joined in this effort by King George VI. Likewise, the King’s daughter, young Princess Elizabeth, began speaking publicly on radio and in person, along with her even younger sister Margaret, to help bolster national support during World War 2.
In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt similarly led us to victory and unified us during World War 2, while all four of Roosevelt’s sons served in the military during the war. More recently, many Americans and/or their family members, from John Kerry to Joe Biden‘s late son Beau to U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Bob Kerrey, Max Cleland, John F. Kennedy, John McCain, Amy McGrath, have served this country before, after or even while serving in or running for public office.
But Donald Trump and his family have avoided military service. Trump received five deferments from serving in Vietnam, at least one supposedly due to “bone spurs” in his heels, even as Trump reportedly continued to play sports at school. Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric likewise have avoided military service, preferring to spend their time firing salvos at political enemies on Twitter and shooting bullets at endangered animals.
Similarly, instead of uniting the country during “wartime,” with over 135,000 Americans dead, Donald Trump does the opposite. Continuing the pattern that he began when first announcing his candidacy, Trump gives speeches and holds partisan political rallies espousing racial division and white supremacy, even coming dangerously close to inciting a race war in America. Meanwhile, Trump does nothing while Russia wages cyber war against the U.S. and even pays bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan.
Any claim of “wartime” status by Trump, therefore, can only be seen as an attempt to grab extra war powers, a false claim that he is some popular unifying national leader, or both. With only 115 days to go until the 2020 elections, however, that train has left the station.
Photo by Gwydion M Williams, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/dlyapY
