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A Rendezvous
One central philosophy guided my years of American history instruction. The story had to feel personal to each student, after all it is their country. For the unit on World War Two, I aimed to act as a bridge between my grandparents generation to the kids seated before me. While growing up, my grandparents played a large part in shaping my world view, as the old folks often shared their life experiences. Each had a unique tale on how they committed to fight totalitarianism abroad in the 1940’s, and defend democracy at home.
All the following accounts involved inconvenience, sacrifice, and interruptions to family life. At that singular moment all they knew was to serve their country, and defeat foreign tyranny.
A new dark age lay in America’s defeat.
This is Ray Turner, born in 1905 in Hammond, Illinois. This young man migrated west, joining family members in Northern Idaho. Ray soon found his way to Spokane, Washington, where he found work as a postal carrier. Stopping for lunch along his mail route he met a waitress in a downtown cafe, Ailene Peterson, a single mother of one, and after a while they fell in love. Marrying in the fall of 1941, the newly weds, while on a Sunday drive caught a breaking news bulletin on the car radio that the Japanese had attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Ray turned his automobile around, motored back to Spokane, and joined the Coast Guard the next morning. Stationed out of Willapa Bay in Tokeland, Washington, Ray and the crew of the USS Manzanita patrolled the extensive, rugged Pacific coastline of Washington and Oregon monitoring for Japanese vessels. And it was aboard the Manzanita that Ray remained until August,1945 when he mustered out of the service and returned to Spokane. After a life of grandkids, holidays, and fun on his lake property, he retired from the US Postal Service, passing away in 1974.
Kurtz Olson hailed from Wing River, Minnesota, born on a frigid day in January, 1905. Kurtz, as the youngest of seven children took up welding as a young man, and made a fair living during the difficult Depression years. This photo, take in the 1930’s, (Kurtz on the left) indicates that Hitler was considered harmless and laughable. That certainly changed in 1939, and after the Pearl Harbor attack brought America into the war, Kurtz packed up his wife and family and traveled west to Tacoma, Washington in search of war work. Kurtz spent his days dismantling scrap metal in a welding yard preparing the steel for conversion to ships, planes, tanks, and other war materiel. After the war Kurtz moved his family to Spokane, where he welded, owned a series of mutts, cut firewood with his son, and grandson’s. Kurtz passed on in 1989.
This GI is Joe Tucker, this snapshot taken somewhere in France around 1944. Born in Craig County, Oklahoma in 1907, Joe found himself back in uniform at the ripe old age of 37, much older than the 18 and 19 year-olds in his outfit. Joe had actually been in the army until 1939, receiving his first discharge before the war. Making his way to the Pacific Northwest he too, settled in Spokane where he met and married a widow with three children. His daughter from his first marriage lived in the city, as well, and he wanted to remain near her. Working for the Northern Pacific Railroad, with his new, larger family, Joe joined the Washington National Guard for the extra pay guard duty brought in. After Pearl Harbor the US Government nationalized the Washington Guard, and off he went to war. After training stateside, then stationed in the south of England, Joe found himself on Normandy Beach on June 7, 1944, D+1. Surviving those first days he and his fellow Guardsmen suffered through the Battle of the Bulge, finally winding their way to Germany. On one particular night, Joe stood guard duty somewhere in Germany. He heard his sergeant grouse was the soldier on duty asleep? The reply was no, it’s Tucker, and he’s awake alright. (Joe liked telling that story). Eventually Joe shipped home to reunite with his family in 1945.
From her waitressing job, Ailene Peterson, turned Ailene Turner followed her new husband Ray to the Washington coast. Traveling with her young daughter Ailene looked for war work as well. Born in 1914, in Clinton, Minnesota, Ailene had married quite young, desperate to leave her father’s stump farm in North Dakota. Husband #1, Joe Tucker had failed her, and with her young daughter in tow, sought refuge with family members in Spokane. It was in Bremerton, Washington that she found employment wiring mine sweepers for America’s Russian allies, (she said they were very rude). In later life, Ailene proudly mentioned that her work never had to be redone. She always wired it right the first time. In an operators cab of a crane, Ailene noticed the girls below waving their arms and jumping about. Shutting down the motor she heard them yell that the Japanese had surrendered, and the war was over. Ailene scrambled down from her seat, and joined the victory celebration. She, too, along with Ray returned to Spokane until her death in 1990.
Besides being my grandparent’s, and generously sharing their remarkable stories with me, what else did these people share in common? They put aside their personal lives to step up in defiance of fascism and authoritarianism. They knew that service to America, to our democracy, was their first duty.
Retelling my grandparent’s war-time sacrifices to my history students added a vividness to the coursework that encouraged the kids to do the same with their elders. That, once again is how I bridged the war years to now, making it personal for students.
President Roosevelt had characterized that moment as America’s “Rendezvous with Destiny,” and those people rose masterfully to the challenge. And despite all the hostility to democracy today, we cannot surrender to those forces, and betray our forebears who stood up to defend our way of life.
Perhaps now is our “Rendezvous with Destiny,” and this time all we have to do is vote for the Democrat over the wannabe dictator.
Once again, a new dark age lay in America’s defeat.
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir, “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight.” Both are available on Kindle. Chumbley has also penned two history stage plays, “Clay,” and “Wolf By The Ears.” She is the co-author of “Dancing On Air,” and feature length screenplay, and is working on “Peer Review,” for the stage, a series of short plays where DJT meets real presidents from the past.
gailchumbley@gmail.com
Symmetry
This reactionary-looking gent is Marylander Roger Brooks Taney, an Andrew Jackson appointee to the Supreme Court. History remembers Justice Taney as the author of the Court’s most infamous ruling in Scott V Sandford (1857).
Before his rise to the Court, Taney had made no secret of his opinion on slavery and citizenship, insisting that blacks in the country had no rights white men were bound to respect. A free black had requested documents for overseas travel that Roger Taney, as then US Attorney General, rejected. Taney declared his view that blacks were not citizens, and never would be. Travel documents for this man of color were denied.
Another important element in this story concerns the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Settled eight years prior to the election of Andrew Jackson, this legislation directed that, with the exception of the new state itself, slavery would be forbidden westward along Missouri’s southern border. Most Americans hoped that this Compromise Line would endure forever, clearly delineating for posterity new slave states from free.
By the time the Scott case wound its way to the highest court, violence and bloodshed had erupted on those very western lands, on the Kansas prairie. Emigrants raced from both northern and southern states, dead set to vote upon the status of slavery in the new state’s pending constitution. A volatile mix of invading, pro-slave Missouri Ruffians assaulted Free-State Jayhawkers near Lawrence, sparking deadly violence across the region. Unrepentant slaveholders demanded their 5th Amendment property rights (meaning slaves) be allowed any place slaveholders settled. At the same time, equally fervent opponents contended the “peculiar institution” would remain only where it existed, never to pollute new territories, or America’s future.
Justice Taney, as Chief Justice, took umbrage at these incessant attacks, and at those Northern rabble rousers who would not obey the law. When the Dred Scott case entered deliberations it appears Taney intended to settle the question for all time, silencing forever those interfering, and self-righteous Yankees. When the Court finally issued its ruling in 1857, Justice Taney’s opinion rang out with certainty, and finality.
Taney wrote
I Despite Dred Scott once residing in free territory with his master, he was still a slave.
II As a slave, Dred Scott was not a citizen and had no standing in court.
With those two main points established, Taney could have ended his decree, but the Chief Justice had some personal venom to add.
III Congress had exceeded its authority in legislating the Missouri Compromise in 1820, and the 1820 law was unconstitutional.
IV Movable property, (slaves) could not be restricted by boundary lines or by popular vote. Property was protected by law.
Believing he had settled the dispute, Justice Taney had, in fact, only stoked a more massive inferno.
Indeed the Civil War exploded within four years of Taney’s ruling, and blazed for four bloody years. In the aftermath, an interesting turn of symmetry, the Fourteenth Amendment was submitted for adoption, flipping all of Taney’s arguments, provision by provision.
I By virtue of birth in the United States, one was a citizen.
II As a citizen a person was due all rights and immunities, with equal protection under the law.
This amendment reads as if the Scott Decision acted as a template for reversal.
Fast forward to 2008.
President-Elect, Barack Obama, in a conscious effort to mirror the sequence of fellow Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural, deliberately followed the 1861 Lincoln festivities. The Obamas rode the same train route as had the Lincoln’s, breakfasted on the same meal inauguration day, and when the moment came for the swearing in, President Obama chose the same Bible as touched by Abraham Lincoln’s right hand in 1861.
In this last twist of symmetry that Bible belonged to Justice Roger B Taney, the man who decreed blacks were not citizens and never would be. A very satisfying turn, indeed.
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir, “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight.” Both are available on Kindle. Chumbley has also penned three stage plays, “Clay,” “Wolf By The Ears,” and “Peer Review.” She has cowritten “Dancing On Air,” a film script.
gailchumbley@ymail.com
Meet The Beatles
It was the night of February 9, 1964, a Sunday, when my older brother and I had to make a crucial little kid decision. The situation we faced left us over stimulated, careening off the living room walls. Our dilemma concerned whether or not to watch “Davy Crockett at the Alamo” on Disney, or the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Adding even more adrenaline to the mix, our shared birthday was the next day, Monday, the 10th.
Agony.
In 1964 there were no video players, no DVD players, no home computers, or dvr’s. Our television stood inside a wood frame measuring about the size of Volkswagen Bug and beamed three network channels in glorious, flickering, black and white. This night’s decision was a one-off with no do-overs. Period.
Dale and I liked Davy Crockett an awful lot. We had watched all the previous episodes, and Davy biting the dust in San Antonio was the much anticipated grand finale. But, oh, the Beatles! “Please Please Me” had infiltrated AM radio, and the fever on the airwaves was palpable.
This was a single decision, and a weighty conundrum for an almost 10, and almost 9 year-old. We had to choose.
In the end we tuned into Ed Sullivan and our world permanently shifted on its axis. George’s opening chords launched into John and Paul’s vocals. “Oh, yeah I’ll tell you something, I think you’ll understand.” The look, the sound, the energy knocked us both for a loop. And the band seemed so delighted with performing, visibly getting a kick out of the reaction of the screaming studio audience, and by extension, all of America. And then that deep bow at the end of the song! Wow.
In fan magazines we learned more about each individual: who was quiet, cute, endearing, and the leader, but those were minor details. That moment, on February 9th all we sensed was joyful wonder. John Sebastian said it best later, singing “how the magic is the music and the music’s in me,” and magic struck on that winter’s night.
The introduction of the Beatles to America reset the course of music world wide, not a small thing. Over the following years the joint efforts of Lennon/McCartney clearly demonstrated genius in both songwriting and brilliant recordings. After their breakup the four musicians pursued other projects: The Plastic Ono Band, Wings, Wilburys, and Ringo’s All Star Band. Each married, had children, remarried, then John was tragically murdered, and George died of cancer.
Now Paul and Ringo attend public commemorations of Beatle music, while their children pop up frequently on social media, each pursuing some latest venture or other. But those facts are details, and rather unimportant details compared to that singular moment on February 9, 1964.
For years I called my brother on our birthday, blasting “Birthday” from the White Album because “it’s my birthday too, yeah.”
Now a lifetime has passed, and my birthday twin and partner in Beatlemania sadly died. But I remember, I’ll always remember. The gift of that moment survives, when we were both very much alive breathing in the unbounded optimism, energy, and magic when Dale and I first met the Beatles.
Oh, by the way, I’ve never seen “Davy Crockett at the Alamo.”
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir, “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight.” Chumbley has also authored the stage play, “Clay” and “Wolf By The Ears.” In addition, Gail co-authored the screenplay, “Dancing on Air” based on her books.
Peer Review One: A Play
Peer Review One
__________________________
10 Minute Play
By Gail Chumbley
SCENE 1
The stage lights rise. Two wingback chairs sit closely on the stage, and a table. Two men, both marines, stand on either side of the stage apron. The sounds of voices are heard off stage. The stage lights shift to blue as a man, The President, steps onstage. The Marines salute, and the president salutes impatiently. The guards disappear in darkness.
THE PRESIDENT
I can hear them. Tourists. Here to see where I, their President lives.
Three girls enter giggling and taking cell phone pictures. The president fusses with his hair.
THE PRESIDENT
And where are you girls from?
The girls move on without noticing him.
Wait! I’m here. Your president. I’m here.
A couple appear looking about, pointing toward “walls,” chatting quietly. The president straightens his tie, and again touches his hair.
THE PRESIDENT
Welcome to my White House. Wanna a picture with your President?
The couple murmurs quietly, indifferently looking around. They turn and stroll offstage. The president follows a few steps.
THE PRESIDENT
You people deaf? What is wrong with you? This is disgraceful. I’m President of the United States, for god’s sake.
A man appears on stage left. He wears a top hat, mustache, pince-nez spectacles and cutaway jacket with tails. He carries a cane. The man approaches the president from behind. He speaks in a patrician voice.
THE MAN
Am I to understand that you are a New Yorker?
The president startles.
THE PRESIDENT
Um, hello. Are you here with a tour group? Bet you want a picture with me, your president.
THE MAN
I ask a simple question, and you reply with a question. I understand you are a New Yorker. Are you or are you not?
The President attempts to walk to no avail. The man stands uncomfortably close.
THE PRESIDENT (Looking around)
I can’t move! My feet are frozen to the floor! Where is my security detail! Where are my marines?
THE MAN
We have all been watching you, and even Mr. Nixon is appalled. Once again, are you a New Yorker? Speak up when I’m addressing you.
THE PRESIDENT
Mr. Nixon? How did you get in here? Are you a re-enactor?
The muted sound of tourists continues off stage.
Yes. Yes. Everybody knows me. I made my fortune in New York real estate, if you must know. I’ve heard many people say I’m the best businessman ever . . .
The man begins to pace and speak at the same time.
THE MAN
From my understanding you are nothing beyond a scoundrel from the wealthy criminal class. I made a career of exposing popinjays like you.
THE PRESIDENT
Well, you’re a nasty piece of work. I am the President of the United States. I won the election by the biggest margin in American hist . . .
THE MAN
Poppycock! We have come to find that result came about due a mere tilt in the electoral count, and foreign interference. Russians, no less. After the revolutionary stirrings in 1905, I feared Russian unrest would spread to the United States. Conditions in mines, shops and factories here were inexcusable. Strikers shot down in the Pullman Rail Strike, vile conditions in Chicago’s meatpacking industry, sweatshops forcing 12 hour work days. Labor agitators pushed for reform, and I agreed. In Russia, Bolsheviks never did extend justice to the working class, only more oppression. They were not, and are not America’s friend, and intend only to destabilize this nation. Through your absence of character, and love of money they have succeeded.
THE PRESIDENT
You are wrong. That’s a lie. A lie.
THE MAN
You foolish pip. Inviting Russians into the West Wing? Unacceptable! Never should foreign adversaries be permitted to enter the inner sanctum, nor rioters in the Capitol. Mr. Lincoln will have more to say on that particular travesty.
The President appears shocked. He mouths “Lincoln.”
You have besmirched America before the world. I’d say you are a compromised pawn of foreign meddlers, and their graft. You give not one whit for America.
THE PRESIDENT
You can’t talk to me like that. My security will be back and you’ll be thrown out.
THE MAN
Sergey Witte.
THE PRESIDENT
What? Who? Just get out!
THE MAN
Hold your tongue! When you are in the presence of a gentlemen, behave accordingly. Witte was a Russian, so you will approve. The Japanese inflicted the most impressive defeats upon the Tsar’s navy in 1904-05. America then had no quarrel with Japan or Russia, however, I was asked to arbitrate peace negotiations. My view of the Russians changed with Witte. What a crude, unmannered man, unlike the thoroughly well- mannered Japanese delegation who comported themselves so gracefully! This so-called “diplomat” grew belligerent during peace talks insisting Russia be awarded more largess from the treaty. That villain stalled and argued for adding more claims, despite losing the war. I gave that knave a piece of my mind.
The man removes his top hat and sets it on a table, and checks his pocket watch.
Good I have time.
THE PRESIDENT
Time? Don’t stay on my account. I’m a busy man. Meetings, briefings.
THE MAN
Sit down this instant.
The president instantly sits. Looks alarmed.
Witte is the point! The Russians only look out for Russia, not you, the bankrupt fool who fell backward into the presidency.
THE PRESIDENT
I’m being pranked. Some a-hole is filming this. Where is the camera? I hate pranks. Meadows is going to hear about this.
The muffled sound of passersby continues. The president sits uncomfortably, and shuts his eyes.
I’m dreaming. That’s it, I’m asleep. When I open my eyes he’ll be gone.
To the man.
I’m opening my eyes now and you better not be here.
The man leans over the sitting president. He opens his eyes face to face with the man. The president startles again.
THE MAN
I am not finished.
The man again paces and speaks.
Bribery does not belong in foreign policy. And America still has a grand future on the world stage. We show strength through integrity–not by shaking down America’s allies for political favors.
THE PRESIDENT
Stop right there, that was a perfect phone call . . .
THE MAN
In foreign affairs we must make up our minds that we are a great people and must play a great part in the world. Nothing less.
The man turns toward an imaginary window. The president attempts to stand, but only succeeds in moving the chair a little. He utters a grunt.
THE PRESIDENT
I have great knowledge of foreign policy. And despite what some people say, I was always against the war in Iraq, and a lot of people weren’t.
The man shakes his head in disbelief. The President continues.
Look, Obama left a foreign policy of one disaster after another. We don’t win anymore. . .We’re going to win big now.
The man looks around the Blue Room.
THE MAN
Talleyrand, Napoleon’s minister once remarked that though President Jefferson loved France, he was still an American first. I do not believe you are first loyal to America, only to your feral, financial instincts.
THE PRESIDENT
TalleyWho? Everyone knows I am the greatest Americ. . .
The man sighs, and with a turn of his hand silences the President.
THE MAN
It appears you have no pets. Quite revealing that-regarding a man. We moved into this house with dogs, cats, and other pets, including a pony. How the boys loved their animals. Our pets were considered part of the family. They and the children’s presence made the White House feel like home.
The man returns his gaze to the president, and smiles.
I would play a bear, and my two youngest would hide under the bed. I pawed and growled, and they giggled and shrieked for joy.
The president is defensive. He speaks.
THE PRESIDENT
Kid’s. The hardest thing about raising kids is time. I know men who leave their businesses so they can spend more time with their children, and I say, ‘Gimme a break!’ My children couldn’t love me more if I spent fifteen times more time with them.
The man watches the president doubtfully.
THE MAN
No pets. Not even for your youngest. And it appears the boy and his mother live separate lives. Your adult children keep their distance, as well. You have squandered a man’s real treasure for an artificial image.
The president wiggle-walks his chair still stuck.
THE PRESIDENT
First of all, I would feel like a phony having a dog. I don’t like dogs. And, so you know, my children love me, and my wife, too. They are so proud of me, so proud. I’m President. And most Americans love me. Those liberals are the problem.
The man snaps, waving his cane.
THE MAN
Is that why thousands of migrant children were separated from their families? Caged? Liberals are not, as you say, the problem!
The man clears his throat, and quietly speaks.
President Grant requested I touch upon the subject of military service. My father did not serve in the War between the States, leaving me a confused boy. I could not understand why. For me soldiering is the highest service a patriot can perform.
THE PRESIDENT
And now you’re going to tell me how great the military is. I really don’t care. Look, Sean Hannity is calling my office.
THE MAN
His decision concerned my mother. Lovely woman, my mother, she hailed from Georgia, and her brothers were serving the Confederacy. You see, my father loved her–simply loved her. He hired a substitute in his place, and aided President Lincoln in other ways.
The man taps his cane and smiles.
Still. I idolized him. He believed so much in public service. He cared about children, orphans living on the streets. Father founded the Newsboys Lodge, the Children’s Aid Society, and the American Museum of Natural History. The last he did for me.
The man strokes his mustache lost in thought.
THE PRESIDENT
On Central Park West?
The man nods.
Been there. Your father had it built? Seems like a big waste of money to me. Bunch of bones and dead animals.
THE MAN
Serving others is our obligation to the less fortunate. To me bad trusts exploited the poor for profits. We regulated fair rail rates for farmers, passed the Meat Inspection Act, and the Pure Food and Drug Act, to make all Americans safer.
The president looks bewildered.
THE PRESIDENT
Why? There’s a lot of money in big pharma.
THE MAN
Not listening.
As president, I never made a decision without wondering what my father would think.
THE PRESIDENT
Yeah, me too.
The president chuckles. The man shakes his head.
THE PRESIDENT
Still, I don’t care. Times have changed. Gotta get what you can when you can.
The man whips around.
THE MAN
Which is why I am here.
The President’s smile disappears.
THE MAN
All four of my sons served in the Great War, and fulfilled their duty. We paid the ultimate cost-our youngest, Quentin, in an aerial fight over Germany. So difficult to lose such a dear, sweet boy.
The man draws close to the president.
And Quentin was neither a sucker nor a loser! He believed in America, they all believed. Quentin held fast to the tenets of our noble land and answered the call.
The man flashes disgust toward the President, then becomes thoughtful.
In 1898, I, too, served as soon as I could. President McKinley named me under-secretary in the Department of the Navy, until I resigned to join the war against Spain. That decision led me to assemble the Rough Riders and ship out to Cuba. Most exhilarating. My father would be proud, of that I’m certain.
THE PRESIDENT
I’d like to do my duty too. But the political establishment trying to stop us is the same swamp responsible for our disastrous foreign policies.
The man frowns, then and continues.
THE MAN
We were on foot in Cuba, a cavalry without horses. We lined up at the base of Kettle Hill, and charged. The moment jolted electric, and my crowded hour began. Lifting my carbine in the air, I rallied from the front, showing the men they had nothing to fear.
THE PRESIDENT
And see, that’s the problem. That is why the military is a chump’s game.
The man shakes his head.
And who needs soldiers? I can do foreign policy, it’s easy. I know because I have a very good brain. I am very rich, people admire me.
The man gives the President an incredulous glance.
THE MAN
Are you deranged? Tossing about words, making no sense? And as for rich, I understand your father earned the fortune, and you have frittered away much of it.
THE PRESIDENT
Wrong. Lies.
THE MAN
Nouveau riche, new money. Gaudy, vulgar, pretentious, and hungry for the validation and acceptance that you will never receive.
The president audibly snores. The man continues to speak over the noise.
When I held office I used my “bully pulpit” in the best sense of the term. Once I believed as you, that the natural world existed to enrich man. But that is false. In my administration Congress approved five new national parks, protected bird sanctuaries, and game preserves. The intrinsic value of our land cannot be found in stock indices or business transactions.
The president snorts
Nowhere else in any civilized country is there to be found such a tract of veritable wonderland made accessible to all visitors, not only the scenery, but wild creatures of the parks are scrupulously preserved.
THE PRESIDENT
Well mister tree hugger I have gutted much of your precious protection and opened land for logging, mining, and drilling. Say goodbye to the Grand Staircase in Utah, well, half of it, anyway. Roads are being cleared as we speak, and off-road vehicles are roaring in. And that goody two shoes, Barack Hussein Obama created the Bears Ears National Monument. I chopped it up for developers. Because that is profit. Profit is real.
THE MAN
You are nothing new, but the only plunderer to reach the presidency. New York City has produced a long line of blackguards such as yourself, criminals like Boss Tweed, and George Washington Plunkitt. Driven by greed and power these men fleeced the public.
The man walks around the chairs still looking about. He speaks.
For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.
THE PRESIDENT
I’d enjoy getting the hell out of here.
He snores louder
THE MAN
Quiet you insolent twit. Those words are inscribed on the arch at Yellowstone Park. Now you shall no longer interrupt.
The man gestures, watching the president who is now unable to speak.
I, too enjoyed a life of affluence. However, with that wealth came obligations to the less fortunate. Doors down from our home on 57th Street the poor struggled in wretched poverty. And much like my father I possessed a troubled conscience.
The man strolls with his cane, and continues.
As Commander in Chief, our charge is to work for the people. All the people. Withholding aid to states you did not carry is a dishonorable breach of that trust.
The man touches the president’s chest with his cane, then resumes his pacing.
My love of justice and fair play may sound naive to you. But your blatant cheating, while pretending you haven’t, is shameless.
The man strikes the president’s chair with his cane. The president sits straighter.
My administration was known as the “Square Deal,” and we, my cabinet and I, kept that promise.
The man taps his cane on the floor again.
My father once counseled me to look after my morals, my health, and my scholarship. And that, I did. And your father? Raised you to love money and value nothing. Had you not been desperate to become president, you might have continued to lead this predatory life of grift and debauchery.
The president fixes his eyes on the man. Angry.
Much like King Midas, or a Greek tragedy, this fatal flaw, your infinite vanity, will now cost you your liberty.
The president struggles, mutely hopping his chair a bit.
You should not have run for office, where dignity and tight scrutiny are the norm. Unable to resist the lure of power, you are the catalyst of your own downfall.
The man puts on his top hat, and gestures. The president bursts free from his chair.
It’s time for me to leave, the others will join you presently.
THE PRESIDENT
Others?
THE MAN
Most assuredly. And the name of that national park is pronounced Yo-sem-i-tee.
As the man stroll off in one direction, the President runs off the other. The stage goes dark.
The Dramatists Guild of America was established over 80 years ago, and is the only professional association which advances the interests of playwrights, composers and lyricists writing for the living stage. The Guild has over 6,000 members nationwide, from beginning writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters. To learn more about the Dramatists Guild of America, please visit http://www.dramatistsguild.com
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir, “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight.” Both are available on Kindle. In addition Chumbley has written two full-length plays, “Clay,” and “Wolf By The Ears.”
Behind the Smiles
This, of course, is Ann Frank. She sat for this photo montage in Brussels, Belgium, probably just before the war. The studio’s name was Polyphoto International and it was owned by a gentleman named Elie Gelaki.
Six years earlier Elie had established another studio across the Atlantic, in New York City, and evidence indicates he aimed to do the same across Canada, and Japan. Whether those offices actually opened is hard to determine, especially in Japan as war with China had erupted. However, the New York studio did open for business and Elie got to work.
The subject of this session was the reason Elie had traveled to New York. Her name was Helen Thompson and she was a professional dancer. Though at first he had mistaken her name, Elie fell in love with the Helen, eventually following her to New York, seeking marriage. But the wedding never came about.
The 1930’s was a perilous time, especially for people like Ann Frank and Elie Gelaki, both Jewish, living their lives under the growing shadow of Nazism. And though Helen never married the Belgian she worried about his fate as the European war blitzed to life, and of course she knew nothing of Ann Frank until later. You see Helen was my mother-in-law, and though we never met, my husband told me she occasionally shared her anxiety regarding Elie’s fate.
It is evident that behind the smiles, and the momentary pleasure of picture taking, an epic story of three individuals played out in a dramatic chronicle of the 20th Century.
For more of this story read “River of January,” and River of January: Figure Eight” both available on Kindle.
Chumbley has also penned a feature film script based on the books titled, “Dancing On Air,” and in addition two plays on American history topics-“Clay,” and “Wolf By The Ears.”
gailchumbley@gmail.com
Splintered
This post is part of an essay from May, 2016.
So what can we make of this 1860 fiasco today, after 2016? If I could attempt a bit of divination I would suggest that the political party that can present the most united front will prevail in the general election. If current Republican candidates continue to employ such wide-ranging, and scorching tones to their rhetoric, and stubbornly defend the innocence of their loose talk, the party may run head long into oblivion, as did the Democrats of 1860. If the roaring factions, currently represented by each GOP aspirant goes too far, the fabric of unity will shred, crippling the Republican’s ability to field serious candidates in the future.
Looking at the past as prelude much is at stake for the unity of the GOP. In 1860 party divisions nearly destroyed the Democrats, propelling the nation into a bloody civil war. And though Republicans at that time elected our greatest Chief Executive, Abraham Lincoln, the Democrats suffered for decades, marginalized as the party of rebellion. And even the best lessons left by the past are still forgotten in the heat of passion, by those who know better. (The Democrats shattered their party unity once again a hundred years later, splintered by the Vietnam War.) This is truly a cautionary tale for today’s turbulent Republican Party.
Zealots do not compromise, and leading GOP candidates are spouting some pretty divisive vitriol. As southern Democrats self righteously rejected their national party 1860, certain it no longer represented them, and ultimately silenced the party of Jefferson and Jackson for decades. The lesson is clear for today’s Republicans. By tolerating demagoguery, extremism, and reckless fear-mongering in their field of contenders, the RNC may indeed face a similar demise.
Though it is true that no party can be all things to all citizens, malignant splinter groups should not run away with the party.
The American public demands measured and thoughtful candidates—and both parties are expected to field candidates of merit and substance.
We deserve leaders worth following.
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir, River of January, and River of January: Figure Eight, both on Kindle. Chumbley has written two plays, “Clay” regarding the life of Henry Clay, and “Wolf By The Ears,” a study of racism and slavery.
Atomic Toothpaste
The recent news concerning Republican reluctance to fund Ukraine’s defense against Vladimir Putin is a stunning turn of policy. More disconcerting is that reluctance has come from the party of once hardline cold warriors, the GOP. When asked, Margery Taylor Greene remarked, “Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine,” and “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, has a “Nazi army.”
WWII ended in Europe in May, 1945. Almost at once America shifted from Hitler’s defeat, to curtailing the Soviet Union. Figures like General George Patton insisted the Communist threat required serious attention. General, turned President, Dwight Eisenhower had no love for Stalin, nor his ultimate successor, Nikita Khrushchev.
During the war Soviet operatives in the United States had collected sensitive intelligence regarding the A-Bomb, and later the Hydrogen Bomb. Though the United States had allied with Stalin during the war, he trusted no one, least of all the Americans.
Thus began the second Red Scare. (Yes, there was a first.)
Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin made his name in Washington as a fearless Commie fighter. Senator McCarthy (along with counsel Roy Cohn) accused the US Army of harboring Communists until his alcohol driven antics destroyed his career.
Another Republican hardliner, Richard Nixon of California, joined the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) exposing other suspected Liberals. Nixon gained national exposure sniffing out academics, artists and federal employees. This California representative sent Alger Hiss, a left leaning aide of FDR’s to jail. The Hollywood Ten were a subpoenaed to testify before the Committee regarding their political activities. Many had their careers and lives ruined as most ended up on a black list of actors and writers.
Russian aggression solidified the backdrop of my childhood, as well. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 (I remember studying my saddle shoes in a crouched position) through the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Those were turbulent years of the Iron Curtain, the Berlin Airlift, and later the Soviet shooting down of the KAL Flight 007 over the northern Pacific.
In 1991 the world celebrated the collapse of the Soviet regime hoping it would usher in a new era of amity, and peace. Republican Presidents Reagan and George HW Bush are credited with the downfall of Communist Russia.
The conflict unfortunately, had not ended.
The dangerous arms race that had pitted the United States and the Soviet Union still remained. Over the years of escalation has challenged our very existence. As stockpiles of nuclear arms increase in numbers and size the world is as vulnerable as ever. The atomic toothpaste is out of the tube. New terms have developed during the modern era, such as Mutually Assured Destruction, Nuclear Winter, Brinkmanship, and the chilling advent of the Doomsday Clock, all characterizing the uncertainty that still exists.
And even now the arms race continues to intensify across the globe.
A quick glance at the America’s arsenal looks to be somewhere around 4,000 warheads and bombs. In Russia the estimate is nearly 6,000. And remember these radioactive weapons are either stored or deployed, and that would be a catastrophe. The one-upmanship is clearly ongoing.
The stockpile is no longer limited to Russia and America. China, the UK, France, India, Pakistan, and North Korea all have or will have completed weapons of their own.
Proxy wars flamed up after World War Two, with large conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. Battling the Russians permeated American culture. Examples of this phenomena include bomb shelters, Dr Strangelove, duck and cover, James Bond films, and even Boris and Natasha. And there were spies, on both sides, the CIA’s Aldrich Ames, and Robert Hanssen of the FBI come to mind.
In my dad’s time the Korean War witnessed over 30,000 American deaths, and in Vietnam 58,000. Some of the best of my generation and before, stood up for America in freezing winters and insufferable jungles. The majority came home with physical and psychological disorders to serve us. We are obligated to remember and honor that sacrifice.
So understand the rest of us who lived through these perilous years. Watching clips of an American president cozying up to a Russian strongman in Helsinki, and pronounced that autocrat did not hack our elections, based on Putin’s denial, or when he invited a group of Russian operatives into the Oval Office to show off, is jarring to say the least, a real gob smack.
So the warm fuzzies Republican President Trump extended to the Russian President are shocking betrayal. First, in Langley, he whined to CIA operatives in a speech regarding, what else, himself. Later the old boy absconded with a library of national security documents and refused to relinquish them to the National Archives.
The greatest and most egregious failure of the GOP is kneeling to an immoral Trump, as he kneels to serial murderer Putin. Richard Nixon remarked, “The Cold War isn’t thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn’t sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting.”
The Republicans have forgotten what they stand for, and have become the betrayers.
Gail Chumbley is the author of a two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight.” Chumbley has also penned two stage plays, “Clay” regarding the life of Statesman Henry Clay, and “Wolf By The Ears,” regarding slavery and racism.
The Patriotic Long Game
When reflecting on my career as a public classroom teacher I hold on to many fond memories. The subject, American History, provided a lot of fascinating stories to share with teenagers coming of age in America. The kids came from varying backgrounds and abilities but once the door closed we focused on a subject that linked us together as one people.
One memorable lesson concerned the Second Continental Congress and adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Together we unpacked the document, followed by guided questioning to clarify the contents. Thomas Jefferson lists the extraordinary circumstances that brought about the decision to split with Britain. Part of the substance listed the abuses of the King and measures colonials had to take to be heard. Toward the end of the lesson I asked the class who they thought Jefferson might be addressing with his lengthy explanation. One boy cautiously raised his hand, an astonished expression on his face, and in a surprised voice he answered “me.”
Indeed.
Toward the end of the academic year the kids were assigned to sit down with an elder and interview the person about their recollections of life in an earlier time. Students had studied a lot of decades which prepared them for those recordings. In a particularly powerful interview a boy contacted his uncle, a Vietnam veteran, and asked him to tell about his tour of duty in that bygone war. This veteran had not spoken of his service to anyone since returning in the late 1960’s. And although this poor man wept through the recording he apparently cleansed his soul for after decades of self-imposed isolation the uncle began to join family get-togethers.
My student said it was a miracle.
Lessons from the past such as these are vital to understanding America’s present. Though the course required a great deal of writing and analysis, a sense of accomplishment filled the room with an aura of confidence, and national belonging.
Today, over a decade has passed since my retirement, and much has changed in American classrooms. Rather than sanctuaries of learning classrooms have become battle fronts in the culture wars. A small, but loud minority has succeeded in chipping away at the foundation of public education, ironically something Mr. Jefferson promoted as vital to freedom. Sadly those misguided assaults imperil our nation’s ability to survive intact.
The underlying cause appears to concern social class, power, and money. To educate all requires tax dollars, dollars fewer want to pay. Further, education implies looking toward the future, providing hope that the promise of America will pass on to new generations. Making money now and keeping it is more important than any investment in other people’s kids. Besides the upper classes can afford to educate their children, and believing they must shelter them from the lower classes. That attitude runs counter to America’s motto: E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many, One. Education is a promise that opens up a world of possibilities. That power and possibilities the well-heeled wish to hoard.
Take, for example, Betsy DuVos appointed by Trump 1.0. She took the job as Secretary of Education for the sole purpose of defunding and dismantling public schools. This is not hyperbole. As Secretary of Education, she made no secret of her contempt for public education. In her official role she pushed for school vouchers, charter schools, private institutions, all designed to ensure gated-community education. Stripping down federal education statutes and funding marked her time in Washington.
With Trump 2.0 even the Department of Education is gone. Critics attacking public education lack serious understanding of our public system, and that threatens our national viability.
History could not be more clear regarding the obligation to America’s youth. After the Revolutionary War as land opened up in the Great Lakes area, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance (1787). This law organized a numbered survey grid mandating revenue from section 16 of the survey be earmarked for public education.
In the years after the Civil War waves of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe flooded upon America’s shores. To aid the newcomers settlement houses, such as the Neighborhood Guild in New York City, and Chicago’s Hull House, children attended classes to learn to be American. Too bad we can’t rally the same enthusiasm for all our kids today.
Now self-appointed curriculum experts pack local school board meetings, demanding removal of books, blaming and bullying over-worked teachers which isn’t helpful. Understandably many educators leave after only a few years, while the rest bravely persevere. What our teachers need is meaningful support as they shoulder the duty of classroom instruction plus all the distractions of behavior problems, lockdown drills, bomb threats, and active shooter protocols.
This is an issue of national self interest. There is nothing sentimental or saccharine about how it takes a village. It does take all of us. We all bear responsibility to all of our kids, for they cannot do this for themselves.
Leave teachers alone and let them continue to weave that same magic I experienced for all of our students. We have and will continue to turn potential into reality.
Whether a parent or an educator, or a retired senior, we are depending on you all to protect the patriotic long game.
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, and “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.
Life Experience
I present history talks here and there, most recently focused on American presidents. The thesis for these programs looks at how each brought their life experiences to the presidency. For George Washington, a man who did his duty, for Andrew Jackson, his iron will, Abraham Lincoln’s push for opportunity, and Theodore Roosevelt’s sense of purpose.
This analysis rests on the old Hamilton/Jefferson dichotomy, particularly views on the proper size of government. Washington supported the supremacy of federal power, crushing the 1794 Whiskey Rebels by force, in Western Pennsylvania. Jackson had an inconsistent record on federal power. He was tough on South Carolina’s refusal to collect a new tariff, threatening to send in the military, as well. Oddly, at the same time, Jackson, without a blush, sided with the state of Georgia in removing the Cherokee and other indigenous people west. Lincoln embraced the Union, waging war, over allowing to let the government fail. Last, Theodore Roosevelt grew the size of government, and placed the federal government as the defender of righting wrongs. Set aside were National Parks, tracts of wilderness and game preserves. TR, protected America’s natural beauty for American’s for all time. Not to forget consumer protections in food and medicine.
For now, I haven’t gone beyond those four individuals, but with that premise as a guide, how do 20th, and 21st Century presidencies stand up to analysis?
Like Washington, Dwight D Eisenhower too, operated from a deep sense of duty. One of seven sons, Ike sought and received an appointment to West Point. A man of conviction, Dwight Eisenhower, as President, sent 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas to desegregate Central High School. Though not a progressive when it came to civil rights, he still enforced the law. And as a side note, Ike promoted the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, creating America’s first interstate freeways system. This piece of legislation came about from Ike’s early days in the army. In 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower commanded a cross-country convoy of Army vehicles, Atlantic to Pacific, spending more time pushing rigs out of the mud than making forward progress. A lesson he never forgot.
A child of affluence, John F. Kennedy had to overcome considerable health problems and the expectations of his prominent father. Like Theodore Roosevelt, or Franklin Roosevelt, for that matter, Kennedy spent a lot of his youth ill, and hospitalized. Besides, “Jack” wasn’t meant to be the presidential nominee from the Kennedy clan, it had been his older brother, Joe Jr., his father’s first choice. Sadly Joe Jr. perished in a secret mission when his aircraft exploded over England in 1944. JFK, too, had nearly lost his life in the South Pacific, but survived, inheriting his father’s ambition.
After a brief stint in the Senate, Kennedy faced off against Richard M. Nixon for the White House. Prevailing in the 1960 contest, with his father’s sponsorship, JFK entered office and soon faced down Soviet aggression. This young president weathered a thirteen-day crisis when the Russians were detected building IRBM missile sites in Cuba. The Kennedy Administration successfully negotiated a stand down to Soviet aggression. This President, despite his medical ailments, and injured spine (from the war) most certainly fulfilled his father’s purpose.
As had Lincoln before, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama promoted opportunity. Both men rose from modest beginnings, and possessed keen minds. Clinton had been a Rhodes Scholar, and Obama a constitutional lawyer. Both men pushed for public health insurance, and the Dreamers Act protected children of Mexican nationals providing opportunity for education. Clinton was the first president to address the plight of LGBTQA in the military, (the first chief executive to utter those words).
And not to be forgotten, opportunity was heavily woven into LBJ’s Great Society objectives.
As for Jimmy Carter, duty seemed to shape his administration. After Nixon’s scandals, and Gerald Ford’s presidential pardon, prospects dimmed in 1976 for the GOP. As president, Carter labored long to warn Americans about dependence on fossil fuels, appearing on television to discuss America’s malaise. However, the country had no interest in belt tightening, and Carter found himself replaced by Ronald Reagan.
Reagan, HW Bush, and George W Bush are interesting commanders-in-chief. All three were nice, decent men, as well as patriots. A Navy man, Bush senior flew in the Pacific in WWII. Young Bush showed leadership in the aftermath of 911. However, in comparison to the four presidents in my programs these gentlemen aren’t as easy to label. The three were financed by large-monied interests, oil producers, and powerful lobbyist to lift regulations on business. In an interesting side note, Reagan’s own favorite president had been the 30th, Calvin Coolidge. Silent Cal once stated, “The business of America is business,” and Reagan felt the same.
Each individual brought a unique imprint on the presidency. Extending federal power, or paring down central control. Life experiences shaped the character of each administration. Current President, Joe Biden looks out for middle and working class Americans, as he was raised in that community. Biden, looking out for the rest of us pushed the infrastructure bill and succeeded in lowering health care and drug costs for all Americans.
The last guy made it his duty, purpose, will, and opportunity, as cover for lining his own pockets and launch a coup against America.
Just saying.
Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir, River of January, and River of January: Figure Eight. Chumbley has also penned two plays “Clay,” concerning the life of Statesman, Henry Clay, and “Wolf By The Ears” an examination of racism and slavery in America.
Gail Chumbley 