Burgess: Let there be peace on Earth

President Biden’s supporters are right to point out that no President since FDR picked up a seat in the Senate in the first “off-year” election after winning the White House. Considering Covid, inflation—declining, but still headlining the media—and Biden being our oldest President, winning the Senatorial elections was a real achievement for the Democrats.

But, as they used to say, “Don’t rest on your laurels.” Speaking of laurels, Biden was right to get our troops out of Afghanistan—finally. His predecessors promised to, but didn’t. Then he got nothing but criticism from an electronic media obsessed with controversy.

Democrats should be aware of history and how they have sometimes lost control of the government with policies that seemed too warlike. World War II was a “popular” war because Japan and Germany declared war on us with the “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbor. And we were winning in Europe and Asia when FDR was re-elected to a 4^th term in ’44. But President Truman and the Democrats, having chosen to defend South Korea in a bloody war from 1950 to ’53, became unpopular with millions, so Eisenhower and the Republicans captured the White House and Congress in ’52. There were other issues, but the Korean War—added to Democrats being in during World Wars I and II--got Democrats the nickname, “The War Party.”

Republican Eisenhower clinched the election of ’52 when he proclaimed, “I shall go to Korea,” and end the war. Meanwhile, Republicans led by Senator Joe McCarthy and Senator Nixon, had branded the Democrats “soft on communism.” The net effect of Republican propaganda was to blame the Democrats for the war, but label them as weak. That strategy created a trap in which Democrats of today still struggle.

Then came Vietnam. Ike proclaimed the US would “not be bogged down in a ground war in Asia.” When Kennedy succeeded him, JFK provided 16,000 “advisors” to train and assist in the war of capitalist South Viet Nam against communist North Viet Nam.

Lyndon Johnson replaced the assassinated Kennedy and embarked on the ambitious and successful Great Society, helping ordinary Americans with Medicare, Medicaid, and civil rights legislation. But, after being re-elected in a landslide in ’64, he sent ultimately 500,000 American troops to South Vietnam. The Great Society benefits were a huge success, but the war cost America and Viet Nam over a million lives. It ensured the election of Republican Richard Nixon in ’68, who ran promising to “win the peace.”

In ’72, Democrats ran Sen. George McGovern, who promised to end the war. Nixon won a huge victory. Democrats have been shy about running a peace candidate ever since, although McGovern’s campaign was struggling and underfunded, while Nixon’s was plush and not encumbered by scruples—think Watergate, where Nixon sent burglars to sabotage the Democratic headquarters.

There’s been a lot of warring since then, as Bush I sought to restore America’s military reputation—and secure our business interests in Asia. Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq again—with hundreds of thousands of lives lost on our side and theirs—and don’t all humans count? Then there are the proxy wars we’ve been fighting in Yemen, Syria, and now Ukraine. Military spending has not made the world safe, but has enriched the military industrial complex, of which Ike warned us. The trillions we’ve spent could have sent every American youth to college tuition free. It could have provided national healthcare for all Americans.

It still could, so let’s work and pray for peace. What can we individually do? Speak up for peace with your friends, relatives and members of Congress. Support candidates who support peace. Trade in your camouflage outfits for holiday colors, or at least something less warlike. Remember the words to the old song, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!” Remember Jesus’ words, “Put away your sword,” and work for peace with our neighbors—next door and around the world.

Jack Burgess is a retired teacher of America & Global Studies, and a member of Veterans For Peace.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Burgess: Let there be peace on Earth