(One of the recurring themes of our times, Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, the Musical)
The Narrative
If you enjoyed Hamilton the Musical, you must remember the dramatic ending. Hamilton is shot by then Vice President Aaron Burr. His wife, Eliza, always wanted to be part of his “narrative” (except for when Hamilton revealed his affair with Maria Reynold’s. Then she wanted her story to “Burn”). But in 1804, Hamilton was dead. Eliza would live for another fifty years, and write her own narrative. The concluding song of the musical is called “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”. Eliza emphasizes that she was granted “time” to secure Hamilton’s legacy as a Founding Father, and to make her own mark on the world.
Towards the end of her life, after many personal and civic accomplishments, she joined with former First Ladies Dolly Madison (James) and Louisa Adams (John Quincy) to raise money to build the Washington Monument, in honor of Hamilton’s mentor, the First President. This was over forty years after Washington’s death. The actual obelisk wasn’t completed and opened to the public until 1888.
Previously, the United States Congress built the Capitol building, with a vault for Washington’s body to be interred. But the Washington family already had a vault for him and his wife Martha at his beloved home Mt. Vernon, and refused to have his remains moved. The room in the Capitol become a storage area for the “national” funeral bier. So the Washington Monument, was the first “National” construction to the Founding Father.
Wait for It
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. A private “memorial” was erected in front of the Washington City Hall a couple of years later, and Congress considered building a monument to Lincoln at that time. But it wasn’t until 1910, forty-five years later, that the actual Congressional Commission to build the Lincoln Memorial met. Robert Lincoln, the President’s son and himself a former Cabinet member and ambassador, was seventy-eight at the opening ceremony in 1922.
The Jefferson Memorial was opened in 1943 over a century after Jefferson died. The “newer” monuments followed the same pattern. The FDR Memorial opened in 1997, fifty years after his death. And the Martin Luther King monument was dedicated in 2011, fifty-three years after the assassination.
Monuments, as Eliza Hamilton sang, tell our story. They help define our legacy, what history we consider. Washington’s monument, an Egyptian-like enigma, not only represents the power of Washington’s Masonic connections, but also, like the man, “stands off” from the rest of the statuary. There is no face of Washington, no Greek god-like depiction. (There was such a statue, commissioned by Congress. But it was jokingly called “Washington waiting for his clothes”, as the half-nude leader sits with his hand raised. It’s now located in the museum of American History).
Running Out of Time
Donald Trump is a man running out of time. It’s not just that his second term of office will end in January of 2029, but Trump himself is showing the sure signs of old age. He’ll be eighty next month. And Trump isn’t waiting for his descendants to build him monuments. He doing it himself, “speeding up” time so that he might see (and revel in) the outcome.
Trump is well aware of the concept of “who tells the story”. He wants to make sure that he controls the narrative. It’s not just that his Administration is busy “scrubbing” American history, removing inconvenient truths (thanks, Al Gore) like discrimination and prejudice and the January 6th Insurrection from the “narrative”. Trump wants his monuments, now, so he can see for himself how America will celebrate his ascendancy.
There’s a list: the ballroom, built in contravention of all the historic building codes in Washington, DC. There’s the planned Triumphal Arch, to be built to overshadow both Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. Trump wants his signature on American money, and his face on US Passports. And there’s the “new and better” reflecting pool, soon to be “swimming pool blue”.
Branding America
Trump has always wanted monuments. His “branding” has often proved to be more lucrative than actual Trump ownership. And he’s determined to place his “brand” on Washington, DC, and Trump Airport in Palm Beach, the Trump Interstate from Texas to Montana, and the “Trump Class” new battleships, part of the “Golden Fleet”.
So don’t be so surprised that Trump wants his “monuments” now, instead of fifty years or more after his death. It’s not just a matter of personal satisfaction; it’s a way to write his story in stone, much more difficult to edit than the Wikipedia version. At eighty years-old, he is running out of time.
And he wants to tell his own story.
