Understanding and Respecting History
Versus disoriented and lost?
“History is to the nation as memory is to the individual. As a person deprived of memory becomes disoriented and lost, … so a nation denied a conception of its past will be disabled in dealing with its present and its future.” Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (1917–2007), New York Review of Books, April 27, 2006
History – an immeasurably vast field – is a topic I tend to know something about. It’s been a lifelong interest and my college major; our shelves are filled with history books written by some of the world’s greatest historians (many, not yet all, read). In the last forty years, I’ve worked with many history preserving organizations, served on the governing boards of similar institutions, and presented a half-dozen times at various history-related conferences.
Unfortunately, nothing on this checklist necessarily qualifies me as an historian. I cite these qualifications, however, to lend credibility to what I’m about to say: Knowing, understanding, and respecting history is essential to our nation charting and ultimately navigating a wise, enlightened course, especially during turbulent times.
Signs abound, however, that national leaders either dispute this statement or deny that it applies to them. Either way, it sets up American society for a dreadful moment of reckoning, which I fear won’t be pretty.
To the extent our national history can be encapsulated in one entity, it’s the Smithsonian, the world's largest museum complex, 21 museums and the National Zoo. Along with our national parks, the Smithsonian Institution is among our country’s crown jewels. So, yes, expect me to scream foul when those who display a limited understanding of history attempt to overhaul and re-direct programming of this asset, which exist for the pleasure, enrichment, and inspiration of us all.
Late last month, an executive order was issued, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” aimed specifically at the Smithsonian. The order faults the Smithsonian’s ideology. Furthermore, the President has tasked JD Vance to “effectuate the policies” of the executive order, with duties that include ensuring no funding goes to “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.”
I’m unsure what the Vice President’s qualifications are for this assignment, but background and expertise have NOT been essential for many recent presidential appointments.
Worth noting, there haven’t yet been Smithsonian funding cuts. But Nostradamus foresight is not required to anticipate there soon may be, especially if pesky historians insist that “America’s story” shouldn’t be whitewashed. After all, two other history-related entities have already experienced funding cuts.
I wasn’t surprised when Trump / Musk / DOGE basically dismantled the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Nor was I surprised when Iowa’s Attorney General, Brenna Bird, didn’t join 21 other states’ attorneys general in suing the administration for violating federal laws regarding spending. Not surprised, since Bird flew to New York City to stand with a man convicted of almost three-dozen felony counts. Sigh.
Most recently, this infamous DOGE trio slashed funding for something as all-American as National History Day, a program engaging half-a-million students interpreting a particular moment in history. (Disclosure: I’ve been a judge in Iowa’s National History Day program.) It’s a small amount of money – $336,000 over two years – but sufficient to gut the program unless other funders step up on short notice.
Let me conclude my recital of recent misdeeds with an excerpt from David Brooks (no left-leaning liberal) writing in the New York Times, April 11. “Trump himself personifies stupidity’s essential feature – self-satisfaction, an inability to recognize the flaws in your thinking. And when the (tariff) approach led to absolutely predictable mayhem, Trump, lacking any coherent plan, backtracked, flip-flopped, responding impulsively to the pressures of the moment as his team struggled to keep up. Producing something this stupid is not the work of a day; it is the achievement of a lifetime – relying on decades of incuriosity, decades of not cracking a book, decades of being impervious to evidence.”
Incuriosity and impervious to evidence are charges applicable to many within the Trump administration. It seems these people may have failed to study history.
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. These are my colleagues: