(In response to a meme about Trump praising Robert E. Lee....)

This meme isn’t limited to the hyper partisan Occupy Democrats. In an embarrassing display of journalism, major media outlets from NBC, to CNN, to the Washington Post all ran headlines proclaiming “Trump called Robert E. Lee a great general”. Without context, the implication is “there Trump goes again, praising white supremacists”. With context, the headlines are highly misleading and OD’s assertion is outright false.
In the comments is a screenshot of the fuller context of Trump’s remarks, make sure to read it. The speech was clearly praising General Grant, not Lee! He was speaking in Ohio, after all, the birthplace of Grant. In a rambling historical account, which only Trump could give, he recounted how Lincoln ended up choosing Grant, despite his drinking problem, because none of his other generals knew how to win. The “incredible” accolade clearly referred to Grant, not Lee, and he called Lee a great general as a foil to praise Grant.
But, calling Lee a great general shouldn’t be controversial anyway. He was, objectively, a great general. That’s why the Union wanted him on their side. Acknowledging his battle prowess does not condone slavery anymore than acknowledging OJ Simpson was a great football player condones murder. Since Occupy seems so horrified at a president calling Robert E. Lee great, let’s see what some other presidents and historical figures said.
-Franklin Roosevelt said this in dedicating a monument to Lee in 1936: “I am very happy to take part in this unveiling of the statue of General Robert E. Lee. All over the United States we recognize him as a great leader of men, as a great general. But, also, all over the United States I believe that we recognize him as something much more important than that. We recognize Robert E. Lee as one of our greatest American Christians and one of our greatest American gentlemen.” [1]
-Winston Churchill once said, “Lee was the noblest American who had ever lived and one of the greatest commanders known to the annals of war.”[2]
-President Truman personally visited Lee's statue at Gettysburg and wrote this to his daughter, “I stood on the spot where General Robert E. Lee stood while the famous and immortal Pickett made his charge—I picked two little flowers from the foot of the Virginia Monument which stands on the spot where Lee stood and I am sending them to you. They will remind you of how a great man takes a terrible defeat—Lee didn’t blame anybody. He accepted the responsibility—”[3]
-Of the 4 portraits in President Eisenhower's office, one was Lee's. He remarked, “General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation. He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America; he was thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his belief in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history."[4]
-JFK said, "As a New Englander, I recognize that the South is still the land of Washington, who made our Nation – of Jefferson, who shaped its direction – and of Robert E. Lee who, after gallant failure, urged those who had followed him in bravery to reunite America in purpose and courage.”[5]
-LBJ used Lee's name in support of civil rights legislation, "If we are to heal our history and make this Nation whole, prosperity must know no Mason-Dixon line and opportunity must know no color line. Robert E. Lee, a great son of the South, a great leader of the South–and I assume no modern day leader would question him or challenge him–Robert E. Lee counseled us well when he told us to cast off our animosities, and raise our sons to be Americans.”[6]
-Jimmy Carter recently came out against removal of confederate landmarks in the south. As president, he said this in his eulogy to the Americans killed in the Iran hostage crisis, “This very land once belonged to General Robert E. Lee. Like these eight men, he was a soldier whose affection for his home and family called him to a life of service that often meant hardship, loneliness, and long separation from those he loved and even from the Nation which he most loved."[7]
-President Reagan said this, “Robert E. Lee, this southerner who criticized secession and called slavery a great moral wrong, would become himself an American legend; yet a man who thought-though he rode off into myth and glory, would suffer cruelly in his own time. After the dissolution of his cause, he would work to bind up the Nation’s wounds"[8]
-As Arkansas governor, Bill Clinton signed legislation combining Martin Luther King day with Robert E. Lee day.[9]
[1]http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15303
[2]http://www.vahistorical.org/—/virginia-histor—/lee-and-grant
[3]https://www.trumanlibrary.org/—/lar—/folder1/1935julytxt.htm
[4]https://www.neh.gov/—/how-did-robert-e-lee-become-american-—
[5]http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=74076
[6]http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26585
[7]http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33388
[8]http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=40134
[9]http://www.npr.org/—/arkansas-to-split-its-holidays-for-mar—