I bet LBJ would joke that this monolith is a middle finger salute to DC. But the grove is a tribute by his wife to his environmental legacy, recognizing LBJ’s unsurpassed legislative achievements in one term: the Wilderness Act, the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. While meant to reflect nature and his Texas roots, the monolith looks unfinished, like the work ahead of us to save our climate.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
letter from a Birmingham jail
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.
Strength to Love
Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
Ike was a farm boy, raised by Mennonite pacifists, who chose military school because tuition was free. His only outstanding role at West Point was leading the cheerleading squad. But the military valued his leadership skills, and George Marshall picked him to plan the European war effort, form the allies into an effective team and lead them to victory in North Africa, Southern Italy, D-Day, and Germany.
A popular President, Ike expanded the social safety net, created the interstate highway system (thanks), started NASA, spied on the Soviets, and sent troops into Little Rock Central High School. When leaving office, he warned about the “unwarranted influence [of] the military-industrial complex”.
“Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals.”
Ike Eisenhower
“It is true of the Nation, as of the individual,
Teddy Roosevelt
that the greatest doer must also be a great dreamer.”
On the re-wilded island in the Potomac River amid a couple miles of wildlife trails, there’s a statue of Teddy Roosevelt along with a few granite inscriptions of his thoughts and exhortations on youth, manhood, nature and the state. Nature is slowly reclaiming the plaza’s landscaping, and nobody was there on a drizzly weekday morning. So I felt like I had stumbled across a forgotten sacred space in the forest. Once, a man of great vision, recognizing the importance of wilderness to our spirit and future, fought to protect nature from being wasted by myopic man. He challenged us to overcome our misfortunes, “find delight in the hardy life of the open”, and do our duty to preserve our natural resources for the next generation. Let us not forget him. Let us honor his vision.
“There are no words
Teddy Roosevelt
that can tell of the hidden spirit of the wilderness,
that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm”
The green parkway along the Virginia side of the Potomac River (islands are DC) connects Riverside Park, the Mount Vernon Trail, Belle Haven Park, Daingerfield Park, Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary, Gravelly Point, the LBJ Memorial Grove, Lady Bird Johnson Park, Theodore Roosevelt Island, and Turkey Run Park, so get out of the car frequently. I barely caught the Great Blue Heron flying under my footbridge, so keep your eyes open too. Great Falls on the Virginia side is a unit of this parkway park, but it’s part of C&O on the Maryland side.
“We have faith that future generations will know here, in the middle of the twentieth century,
FDR in 1943
there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce,
and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war.”
Wander through the FDR memorial amid the waterfalls and trees, reading his words and reflecting on his extraordinary life, and feel the impact his leadership had upon the world. He struggled against being defined by polio, against the Great Depression, to bring a new deal to Americans, through WWII and for peace, until his wife Eleanor took up his torch at the UN. In speaking plainly with people FDR became the lightning rod that harnessed the energy of everyone’s dashed dreams and fearful hopes to make the world better. The desperation of the times brought Americans “a rendezvous with destiny” and required more of FDR than any other President: putting 1/4 of the country back to work, creating a new social contract with a safety net, becoming “the great arsenal of Democracy”, and fighting for a dream of world peace.
“Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood
FDR in 1943
and does justice to the whole human race,
the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind.”
“By God, that will be the last speech that he will ever make!”
John Wilkes Booth
A Shakespearean actor, infuriated by a Lincoln speech about voting rights for African Americans, after learning where the President would be, shot him.
This DC area 1700 acre nature reserve and historic park (our nation’s 3rd national park) is chockablock full of wildlife, old buildings and monuments, and its popular attractions for hiking, biking, horseback riding, boating, field trips, sports, picnics, learning and fun are well worth your time. The Sarah Whitby Site and Pierce Mill are recommended historic attractions. The Planetarium was closed, but the park extends to Georgetown, passes the Washington National Cathedral, the National Zoo and includes nearby parks, one with a memorial to Khalil Gibran.
But my brother suggested we go to Fort Stevens, at the edge of the park near the Maryland-DC border, one of many Civil War era forts. We think most people don’t realize that confederate troops attacked DC, but there’s a small cemetery where over 40 fort defenders were buried. As depicted in bronze relief, the only time a US President has been under direct enemy fire was here, when confederate sharpshooters shot at Lincoln as 20,000 troops attempted to take our nation’s Capital. A young officer (long before he joined the Court) issued a sharp order to the easily identifiable President.
“Get down, you damn fool!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Monocacy (a Native word for river bend) is a junction northeast of DC, and during the Civil War the 14th NJ, later known as the Monocacy Regiment (above), built two blockhouses to defend the road and rail bridges. Early in the war, secret order #191 from Robert E. Lee was discovered here, providing advance warning of his movements and gaining the Union critical time to respond at Antietam. When over 15,000 troops suddenly began marching towards DC in 1864, control of the junction became critically important.
About 6,000 mostly inexperienced soldiers were rushed here to stop the advance, under the command of Lew Wallace. General Wallace had earned both distinction at Fort Donelson and shame at Shiloh, which is why he had been relegated to defensive duties. Now, he had to hold the river crossing outnumbered 3 to 1. In fierce fighting on July 9th, Union troops fought back waves of attacks and held the bridges until the confederates crossed a shallow point a mile downriver. Then Wallace ordered the road bridge burned, recalled his men from the blockhouse across the railroad bridge and launched a counterattack on the new front. After fighting all day with 1,300 casualties, his forces were finally flanked and forced to retreat.
But, as in the case of the secret order, the Union gained time to redeploy troops to defend the Capital. After only a brief skirmish at Fort Stevens, the attack was withdrawn. General Wallace and his men lost the battle, but they saved Washington DC. Wallace went on to preside over the military tribunal for the commandant of Andersonville, but he’s best known for writing Ben Hur in 1880.
Arlington House is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key.” The key is slavery. The house belonged to the descendants of George Washington’s stepson, John P. Custis, and Robert E. Lee married John’s granddaughter. Lee was a veteran (Mexico) and West Point grad who put down John Brown’s abolitionist rebellion at Harper’s Ferry. Abraham Lincoln offered him command of the Union Army, but here Lee declined and chose treason.
While it would have been better if Lee had chosen morally, it was no surprise to his slaves here. When John Custis’ son G. W. P. Custis died, his will ordered his slaves freed, except that Lee didn’t free them and cracked down instead. Some slaves resisted, escaped, were caught, jailed and lashed.
Lee fought to dissolve the Union to preserve slavery and against those who fought to preserve the Union without slavery. The country split in half right near here, with Maryland staying with DC and the traitors set up their HQ nearby in Virginia. When Lee evacuated, his slaves were finally freed, and one, Selina Gray, personally handed the keys to the cellar over to the Union General in order to preserve George Washington’s personal relics (including his war tent now on display in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia).
Periodically, slavery-supporting “lost cause mythology” believers try to rehabilitate Lee’s reputation. After the war, Lee supported disarmament and peaceful reconciliation, but that doesn’t excuse either his own slave owning or his treason on behalf of slave owners. Still, there have been periodic political attempts to elevate Lee, especially in times when white nationalism is in vogue or politicians feel that “reconciling his legacy” would be worth a few votes. This house, previously known as the Custis-Lee House, became known as “Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial”, but there’s legislation pending to remove his name again.
The site is educational, especially the slave quarters exhibits with audio. There’s a metro stop in front of Arlington National Cemetery, and it’s a healthy walk from there, through security, past the idling gas-polluting buses, past the Military Women’s Memorial and up the hill on a path between the graves to the park site. Be sure to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watch the Sentinels of the Old Guard change the Tomb Guard every hour every day. The Old Guard is the name General Winfield Scott gave to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, and only their most elite volunteers may serve as Sentinels.
“You have made the greatest mistake of your life,
General Scott’s response to Lee on his refusal to fight for the US
but I feared it would be so.”
Zero Carbon Travel 