Trump History: The Civil War
Donald Returns to the Dunce Chair with a Treatise on Lincoln, Lee, and Grant
Donald Trump gave one of his special “history lessons” October 12, 2018, in which we learned that Abraham Lincoln had a phobia, Robert E. Lee was a great general, and Ulysses S. Grant — like Frederick Douglass — is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
The scene was one of Trump’s trademark political rallies, this time in Lebanon, Ohio. The state is birthplace to many U.S. presidents, which must have prompted Trump’s off-the-wall comments.
So much to unpack here. I’ll just take it in Trump-order:
[Ohio] also gave you a general who was incredible. He drank a little bit too much. You know who I’m talking about right? So Robert E. Lee was a great general. And Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia. He couldn’t beat Robert E. Lee. He was going crazy. (Full text of Trump’s comments courtesy U.K. Daily Mail.)
Abraham Lincoln did not have a phobia about Robert E. Lee. A phobia, of course, is a psychological fear of something — like dogs, clowns, or open spaces. Lincoln…
