Posted on 12/14/2012 6:52:45 AM PST by Kaslin
Ordinarily, the news that a long overdue memorial to an historic American leader has been put on hold still again would come as a disappointment. But if you've seen the innocuous design for an Eisenhower memorial in the nation's capitol, the news may come as a relief -- and a welcome opportunity to start all over and try to get it right this time.
Innocuous doesn't begin to cover the emptiness, the blahness, the pomp meaninglessness of Frank Gehry's design for this "monument" that is the opposite of monumental. It's just a few saplings around what looks like an empty neighborhood playground in any interchangeable midwestern suburb circa the 1960s. A cross between a no-place, to borrow Walker Percy's perfect phrase for so much of America's forgettable urban landscape, and the non-style dubbed the International Style -- an enclosed blankness.
Oh, yes, there are a few disjointed quotations from the real Eisenhower clunked onto the design like random afterthoughts to lend it a bogus authenticity, and a statue of the accomplished general, under-estimated statesman and smiling national leader as ... a Kansas farm boy.
I'd call the design Disneyish except that it lacks even that much character. Believe it or not, this disconnected, spaced-out blob of a little park is supposed to have something to do with honoring an American who was first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen in his time. Which was the 1950s, the Age of Cool, when understatement was in fashion, displays of emotion were out, and political rhetoric was supposed to be as slim as the neckties.
But this design for an Eisenhower "memorial" betrays no memory of either the Supreme Allied Commander in the European Theater or the president who ended another war, the forgotten one in Korea, and kept a Cold War from getting hot. And who had the good sense not to get in the way of an American economic revival that would jump-start the world's after the Second World Devastation.
Where is that Eisenhower in what is supposed to be an Eisenhower memorial? Where is the Ike we remember? There's not a trace of him.
Here was a general who could get prima donnas like Patton and Monty and DeGaulle working together, using their talents just when and where they were most needed and not otherwise. Then he would come home to reunify a bitterly divided country and deal with the Joe McCarthys and Orval Faubuses and J. William Fulbrights so deftly and effectively it looked as if he were doing nothing at all.
Ike knew when to let actions speak louder than words. As on June 6, 1944, aka D-Day. And on September 25, 1957, when the 101st Airborne appeared again, this time at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., and in American history. Ike also knew when and how to say absolutely nothing at length, and let there be peace. In that sense, he was a worthy successor to American soldier-statesmen in the mold of U.S. Grant and George Marshall.
Murray Kempton, a now almost forgotten newspaper columnist of the Eisenhower Era, wrote exquisite prose that revealed a fine, discriminating mind. (Yes, even if he was a newspaper columnist, hard as that is to believe in these post-William F. Buckley days.) And when Ike's critics called the old general inarticulate, Kempton couldn't resist pointing out that he was "inarticulate like a fox."
There was something irresistibly simple about both Eisenhower the general and Eisenhower the president. Or maybe he just appeared simple, a much more valuable political talent. It disarmed even his critics. He could boil down both strategic and political issues to their core, reach a conclusion, and then stick with it. How rare in the fickle world of high-stakes, ever-fluid politics. Call it constancy of purpose.
Unlike today's headliners, the man had an instinctive aversion to the pretentious, the glib, the clever, the theatical. No one would ever have mistaken him for some kind of flashy intellectual. It was said that when his speechwriter gave Ike a first draft, the first thing he did was go through it and strike out any phrases that might prove memorable. It's a wonder Emmet Hughes' warning about the dangers presented by a growing "military-industrial complex" survived his boss' editing; it may be the one quotable phrase Ike ever committed in a presidential address. Then there was that broad, trademark grin of his, which almost guaranteed that everybody would like Ike. And, more important, trust him.
Eisenhower does present a difficult question for historians: Was he better at cutting straight through some Gordian Knot, as in his panic-free response when the Germans broke through the Bulge in Allied lines? Or at defusing crises as the post-war leader of the free world? One who led so unnoticeably in his avuncular way that no one seemed to notice he had avoided World War III. There's no hint of any of that in this memorial without a memory.
This amnesiac memorial is the product of Frank Gehry, who has uglified the world's urban landscape from Bilbao to Seattle with designs that look like botched abdominal operations, what with their dissected intestines and tubes twisting in every direction. Something out of a surgeon's recurring nightmare. At least now he's produced something completely unmemorable, which for him is a step up.
Now the Great Gehry has designed a "monument" that doesn't have enough character even to be ugly. It could be one of those mass-produced, pre-fabbed Edward Durrell Stone designs of the 1960s with screens to mask its nothingness. This design for an Eisenhower "memorial" perpetuates and magnifies the essential mistake of the FDR memorial, a collection of politically correct effigies of Franklin D. Roosevelt at different stages of his life. A kind of park full of big dolls for us little people to wander around in. Unlike the great monuments -- the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument -- today's mod memorials diffuse the viewer's attention rather than focusing it.
The best of recent memorials -- Maya Lin's perfect Vietnam War memorial -- transcends the bitter divisions over that terrible sacrifice of lives, and unites us all in common sorrow, reverence, and gratitude for these honored dead. Yet even that work of art and memory had to be cluttered at the edges with some needless statuary and a little flagpole or two.
There is no design so simple and moving that some unimaginative, literal-minded critics won't find a way to disimprove it. Usually by adding completely superfluous curlicues. Or maybe a group of realistic sculptures to break up its abstract flow. At the Vietnam Memorial, tens of thousands of light-filled American names float forever on its sloping walls, whose dark surface reflects the images of the living who are just passing through like so many ghosts-to-be.
At least there's no way to disimprove this design for an Eisenhower memorial. Because there's nothing there to make better or worse. It's in the spirit of a spiritless age. And of an America that has grown suspicious of greatness or any national celebration of it. No wonder the Eisenhower family objected to this empty but expensive design, which is cluttered with symbols and at the same time manages to say nothing, nothing at all.
The major-domo of this whole, mishandled project is one Rocco Siciliano, a minor functionary in the Eisenhower White House who now is chairman of the commission in charge of planning this memorial. A fine Italian hand is the last thing one would associate with him; he's more a blunt instrument personified. Dismissing any objections from the Eisenhower family or anybody else, Mr. Siciliano announced: "I am one person who feels competent to say that he believes President Eisenhower would be most pleased as to what the present commissioners have unanimously accepted."
Goodness. It was clear enough that Chairman Siciliano was an insufferable little popinjay, but not that he was also in contact with the spirit world. Ike's son, Major John Eisenhower, could only describe himself as "astonished" at Mr. Siciliano's fatuous claim. But anyone familiar with both the pretension of bureaucrats and how little basis there is for it can't have been surprised, let alone astonished. The smaller and sillier the man, the bigger and stranger his claims. The commission in charge of the Eisenhower memorial seems to have found in its chairman the perfect un-Eisenhower.
Why does EVERYTHING cost at least a $billion in dc.
I could build a nice respectful memorial to Ike for $10,000,000.
Because we don’t have just simple memorials anymore. We have existential pieces whose design is deemed more important than what is being memorialized.
——I could build a nice respectful memorial to Ike for $10,000,000.——
Yes but........
You fail to consider the study study to consider the plan study of the plot study incorporating the study results of the lunch meetings to review the quality enhancement study of the environmental impact study rendered impractical by the preliminary archaeological site excavations.
Why not a large cast statue on a pedestal in his Ike Jacket? (I still have mine.) Sort of like MacArthur’s statue at West Point but larger. Less space much less $$. (Saves money but doesn’t employ many.)
“The best of recent memorials — Maya Lin’s perfect Vietnam War memorial — transcends the bitter divisions over that terrible sacrifice of lives, and unites us all in common sorrow, reverence, and gratitude for these honored dead. Yet even that work of art and memory had to be cluttered at the edges with some needless statuary and a little flagpole or two.”
This tells me all I need to know about Greenberg’s taste and politics. Not one veteran of any way—never mind Vietnam, not one active military serviceran served on the selection panel for the Vietnam Memorial. The black tombstone now half-buried in the mall, listing those it was meant to memorialize in chronological death-order, minus military service identity and honors was the Left’s meaning-packed exclamation point after a war it, not those it memorializes, lost. Thank God and less sophisticated voices than Greenberg’s that the statues were added to remind us of the heroism and patriotism of those whose deaths ultimately led to the fall of another wall.
Nice try, but you left out a lot of potential studies, committees to study the studies,and agencies that MUST be
brought in to get their input and their piece of the pie.
Then there’s also the committee to study the possible effects of whether to include any mention of Kay Summersby and how it might “impact” the War on Women......oh, wait, I think that one was already tried...it came in with a delightfully under-budget price tag of $100,000.00.
“The best of recent memorials — Maya Lin’s perfect Vietnam War memorial — transcends the bitter divisions over that terrible sacrifice of lives, and unites us all in common sorrow, reverence, and gratitude for these honored dead. Yet even that work of art and memory had to be cluttered at the edges with some needless statuary and a little flagpole or two.”
This tells me all I need to know about Greenberg’s taste and politics. Not one veteran of any war—never mind Vietnam, not one active military serviceran served on the selection panel for the Vietnam Memorial. The black tombstone now half-buried in the mall, listing those it was meant to memorialize in chronological death-order, minus military service identity and honors was the Left’s meaning-packed exclamation point after a war it, not those it memorializes, lost. Thank God and less sophisticated voices than Greenberg’s that the statues were added to remind us of the heroism and patriotism of those whose deaths ultimately led to the fall of another wall.
Ike learned, as a successful general in WW2, that the biggest problem to a moving army was food and supplies and THAT required roadways.
When he became President, he successfully initiated and accomplished quite a bit of inter and intra-state road system that, to this day, are still maintained , rejuvenated or expanded upon.
America prospered MIGHTILY in the 50's and 60's becauser of the transportation system that supplied American industry, manufacturing and every element of infra-structure.
Yup ... some big-assed Pete bursting out of the distance ... a hunnert feet high an' a hunnert feet long should be about right.
Excellent post, since Frank Gehry is and has been for years a particularly painful pain in my ass since I first saw his
“designs” many years ago. His stuff has been even a worse blight on the American and world architectural landscape than
the ruins of Detroit or any other place that’s cited as good examples of our downward spiral.At least ruins CAN be torn down eventually to make way for self-sustaining, economically viable structures providing shelter for humans and bases for commerce. If anyone would like to see what “modern architecture” is capable of at its best look at Fay Jones’ Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs Arkansas. Jones was a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the first time I saw pictures of this Chapel I was totally knocked out by it.
And they have a great website:
www.thorncrown.com
I think you’re missing the point about Maya Lin’s Memorial Wall, which was perfect ( I believe this too, and I was in the military during Vietnam) in every way, regardless of whether you were pro-War or Anti-War.This can be argued, of course,and I don’t know much about the “politics” behind the screening process, but it was a design competition for architects. Whatever “input” you’re craving from Vietnam Vets or their organizations was most likely already pre-empted by the competing designs from other competitors: indeed, the Wall was just profiled on 60 Minutes and they showed one absolutely ridiculous design of a gigantic Army helmet with a long chain extending from it, and ending in a dog-tag. Perhaps you’d be surprised to learn after all these years to find out just how perfect and appropriate Lin’s design is in the eyes of veterans and their families, who have come to honor it and their fallen . I went there about 15 years ago, and searched every name I could remember from Basic Training in 1966 at Ft. Polk, and could find not a single name from my Company. I left in tears.
Ah yes, Ike. The man that single handedly destroyed the US military beyond all recognition by going with tactical nuke pie in the sky BS instead of keeping all the veterans where they belonged, in the military.
The man was an epic failure.
Wow—two communists and a Brit.
I have visited The Wall three times, and have left in tears every time.
It is quiet there, respectful,and seeing yourself reflected in the black granite as you scan the names of those who are no more, and all they and their hopes and dreams represented, you become profoundly saddened and profoundly grateful for their sacrifice.
The descent to the center and then the ascent gives a a subconcious feeling of descending into the hell of war, and ascending out of the monument renews hope in peace among men. The cut into the soil accurately represents the absolute division in our society that was present during the conflict, unlike other wars in our history.
I have always considered the design to be hugely respectful of those that actually fought and died in that war.
If anything, it gives a stark reminder of the true costs of any conflict which we as a nation choose to become engulfed in.
It tells you quietly, to consider the cost. Because the cost is very high.
And it tells you that as an American, you need to be a better person to earn their sacrifice and make it count.
It remains one of the most powerful monuments in how it chooses to evoke emotions to reflect on those who died as people and yet graphically show the enormity of the cost of war—of just one war.
It is masterful, and shows wisdom of the designer far beyond her years when it was designed.
Paul Greenberg was writing anti-Clinton columns long before most of us knew who Bill Clinton was, much less what he was really like. I believe he is the one who invented the “Slick Willie” nickname for him. He was a newspaper man in Arkansas when CLinton was governor.
Beautifully, beautifully put.
And I guess the poster I originally responded to doesn’t know who Jan Scruggs was, and the effort it took for him to get a
Memorial Wall going.
Interestingly, I’ve recently gotten back in touch with my bunkmate from Basic , who I haven’t seen since about ‘68/
He asked me if I had the Basic Training “yearbook”, which surprised me, because I didn’t even know a yearbook existed.
So he emailed it all to me, page by page.
All those young and innocent faces (mine included) really brought back a whole new dimension of memories.
So now I have a COMPLETE list of the guys I was in Basic with,rather than the hundred or so names I could call up from memory.
If I ever make it back to D.C. and visit the Wall, I might take that list with me.
Or I might not.
I’m sure you know what I mean.
This wasn’t my introduction to Greenberg.
I can’t find the original article by Tom Wolfe, but this may give you an idea of the original controversy.
“3. The memorial was originally quite controversial.
Many people commended Lin’s winning design, with a former ambassador to South Vietnam calling it a “distinguished and fitting mark of respect” and the New York Times saying it conveyed “the only point about the war on which people may agree: that those who died should be remembered.” But others lambasted it as an insult. Author Tom Wolfe called it “a tribute to [anti-war activist] Jane Fonda,” Vietnam veteran Jim Webb, a future U.S. Senator, referred to it as “a nihilistic slab of stone,” and political commentator Pat Buchanan accused one of the design judges of being a communist. Some critics even resorted to racially insulting Lin, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Eventually, a compromise was reached—against Lin’s wishes—under which a U.S. flag and a statue of three servicemen were dedicated near the wall in 1984. Nine years later, yet another sculpture was added of three women caring for an injured soldier. Not only did the controversy quickly quiet down, but the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has since become both widely praised and wildly popular. “It is still far and away the greatest memorial of modern times—the most beautiful, the most heart-wrenching, the most subtle, and the most powerful,” a Vanity Fair commentator wrote earlier this year.
From: http://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial.
Perfect? Are there other all-black veterans memorials in D. C.? Anywhere else? How many of them look like gravesites? Does any other war memorial you know list every (or nearly every) casualty of the war it proposes to memorialize. At best, the VWM is a eulogy, not a memorial. “Look at all those dead soldiers,” it screams, not “Thank these men for their service to America.”
I realize the memorial grounds have since become hallowed—not as the result of some edgy notion of aesthetics but because of the visits of relatives, friends, and other patriots. Where else CAN they go?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.