AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
President Trump is planning to build a 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. It’d be more than three times taller than the White House, more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial and just slightly lower than the top of the U.S. Capitol building.
RICHARD THOMPSON: Anything that can bring history to this town – yeah, I think it’s good. Bigger, the better.
ELISE WALSH: We do not need an arch. We have a beautiful capital as it is, and we don’t need any monument to our power in the world.
RASCOE: That was Elise Walsh of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Richard Thompson of Tampa, Florida, who both recently visited the monuments in D.C. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt says the new arch would celebrate the, quote, “enduring triumph of the American spirit.” But when a reporter asked Trump who the arch was for, he said, me. Joining us now is historian and author Kevin Levin. Thanks so much for being with us.
KEVIN LEVIN: Great to be with you today.
RASCOE: So a lot of your work focuses on public memory – the way that we remember important events and people in our nation’s history. How does President Trump’s proposed arch fit in with other monuments around Washington?
LEVIN: I think the first thing to keep in mind is the extent to which so many of those other monuments, really iconic monuments on our National Mall, are the results of an intentional process – committees doing work over the course of years to commemorate an individual, whether it’s the Washington Monument or an event or Lincoln, in the case of the Lincoln Memorial. And, you know, it takes time for these monuments to evolve, for the projects themselves to bear fruit. What kind of design do you want? All these things need to be debated, and that stands in sharp contrast with what we’re seeing with this so-called triumphal arch, which is essentially the vision of one man.
RASCOE: Trump shared official renderings of the arch earlier this month. What stands out to you about those renderings in terms of the elements that reflect the history and culture of the United States?
LEVIN: He says it reflects the history and culture of the United States, but it’s hard to see that. I mean, obviously, arches like this of different sizes go back to Ancient Rome. But it stands out in so many different ways from the other monuments and memorials along the National Mall. Just consider the Lincoln Memorial and the symbolism of the columns representing the individual states or the different kinds of marble that were used from different parts of the country, all an attempt to sort of reinforce this idea of union in the early 20th century – 1922, when the memorial was dedicated.
I also think it’s important to remember that these monuments and memorials take time to gain their own identity. If you consider, you know, even the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, when that was, you know, unveiled in 1982, it was incredibly controversial. But now today it’s one of the most popular sites on the National Mall.
RASCOE: Could this arch also get its own identity and maybe become very popular over time, or take on a different meaning over time?
LEVIN: It’s certainly possible. I mean, it’s impossible to predict the future, you know, and it’s obviously not even clear whether it will ever see the light of day.
RASCOE: A group of Vietnam veterans is suing to stop the project, arguing it disrespects those buried at the nearby Arlington National Cemetery. One of the tourists we talked to, Jerry Wheat of Austin, Texas, had similar concerns about Trump’s arch.
JERRY WHEAT: We don’t need it, especially here. He likes to, you know, send our troops into, you know, harm’s way, but he’s never served. And then to put it in front of Arlington is just that – it’s a double tap as far as the tragedy of his vanity.
RASCOE: What’s your take on this arch, like, right there at the entrance to the Arlington National Cemetery?
LEVIN: I agree with Jerry. I think it’s incredibly problematic. Every summer, I lead history teachers on tours of Washington, D.C., and Arlington is one of my favorite stops during this weeklong tour. And for the reasons he mentioned, it’s going to obscure your approach to Arlington National Cemetery. Once you cross Memorial Bridge from D.C., you get your first glimpse of those rows upon rows of gravestones. It seems to me that Arlington doesn’t need any additional monumentation on this scale. The graves themselves are monuments enough.
RASCOE: This arch has already been approved by the Commission of Fine Arts, which has to sign off on buildings like this in Washington. You talked about how the processes for other monuments has been collaborative and has taken years. How do these processes usually work?
LEVIN: Yeah. I mean, it’s incredibly complicated. I mean, there’s a reason why it’s slow. And that’s because we expect these commissions to bring a certain intentionality to their work because ultimately, they’re doing the work for the American people. This is our capital city. Ultimately, these are our monuments and memorials. And it raises, I think, the important point right now that our history itself is very much contended, right? We’re debating right now about key moments in our national history. And I think it speaks to the importance of ensuring that whatever we add to the National Mall is reflective of our collective values and our collective understanding of the past to whatever extent possible.
RASCOE: That’s historian and author Kevin Levin. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
LEVIN: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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