Last week, President Trump said:A series of outrageous liesAbout Ukraine – Starting a war with Russia (Russia actually invaded Ukraine), Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky is a dictator (not Russian Strongman Vladimir Putin) and its approval rating was 4% (that'sOver 50%,That oneIt's higher than Trump's rating).
Trump also said that photos of the battlefield of war in Ukraine reminded him of the Battle of Gettysburg. “It's a soldier lying outdoors, a body part throughout the field.”Trump observed. “That's scary.”
We can all agree with that: war is hell. But Gettysburg was also a symbol of America's commitment to freedom and democracy, thanks to the immortal speech that Abraham Lincoln presented there on November 19, 1863. , Trump hasHe was called his idol and role model.
The generation of American school children remembersGettysburg AddressLincoln was streamed on the site51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or capturedMassacre was massacred in three days. In comparison, the US lost58,000 people live throughout the Vietnam War.
In just 275 words, Lincoln transformed the Civil War from a struggle to save unions to his original goal – into a “new birth of freedom.” 15,000 peopleThey were gathering to tribute the cemetery in Gettysburg. He began his speech by quoting the Declaration of Independence. And he ended it with a famous respect for democracy, vowing that “it will not perish from the earth for the sake of the people's government, for the sake of the people's government, for the people, for the people's people.”
“From Earth.” It's not just America.
It is a global dimension of Gettysburg's address, and we ignore it too often. Lincoln did not simply predict the renewal of US freedom.
“We are now engaged in a great civil war.”Lincoln told the Gettysburg audience“… Testing whether any country is dedicated can bear for a long time.” Freedom and democracy were not just American ones, but universal principles. So the fight to protect them was also global.
And the world was watching. “American causes are the cause of freedom.”Written by French observers in 1864months after Gettysburg's speech. “As long as there is a society of 300 million people throughout the Atlantic, freedom casts a ray of light on Europe, living happily and peacefully under the government of their choice, and with laws made in itself.”
The following year, when Lincoln was murdered, Europe lamented. “Lincoln represented the cause of democracy in the world's largest and most universal recognition.”Written by another French author. “The cause is our cause, and that's about as much as the cause in the United States.”
Of course, not everyone shares a cause. In 1933, on the eve of Germany's Nazi acquisition, Adolf Hitler lamented the fact that Lincoln and his ideal of equality had won the American civil war. “The beginning of a great new social order based on the principles of slavery and inequality was destroyed by war.”Hitler declared. If the Confederates had won, the United States would have “wiping away all falsehoods of freedom and equality.”
Certainly, America itself continued to underestimate these ideals. That was the main message of Martin Luther King Jr., which began in March 1963 in a Washington speech at the Lincoln Memorial Steps. And then in November of that year, Secretary of State Dean Rusk repeated the King theme at the 100th anniversary address celebration. Without respecting civil rights at home, we cannot support democracy around the world.
“Our commitment to freedom is the source of our foreign policy.”Rusk told the Gettysburg audience. “Our mistakes have tormented our friends and kept our enemies in mind.”
Fully embraced Russian disinformation about Ukraine, Trump forged Abraham Lincoln's commitment to freedom. Monday, the USVote against the UN resolutionIt denounced Russia's attacks in Ukraine and called for the return of Ukrainian territory. Our friends in Europe are suffering. Our enemies of Russia, North Korea and Iran – all voted against the UN resolution, but with all my heart. Maybe they are not even our enemies now.
But the future can be obtained. In 1959, US intelligence agencies created a comic book about Lincoln's life for distribution all over the world. We predicted Lincoln's speech and featured Gettysburg's address on the interior cover.”Endure forever as an expression of the spirit of the United States. ”
We still have time to revive that spirit. And if we speak up in Ukraine, and to Trump, we can create yet another birth of freedom. It's not up to him. It's up to us.
Jonathan Zimmerman teaches history and education at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the advisory boardAlbert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest.
