Trump’s ‘Hero garden’ is coming – where Abraham Lincoln will stand next to Julia Child

Americans could soon get the chance to walk by life-size statues of luminaries, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Muhammad Ali, after President Donald Trump’s “National Garden of American Heroes” was greenlit.

Trump is an idea man.  Some of his ideas are so unexpected, we need time to think an idea through before forming an opinion.  The ‘National Garden of American Heroes’ is happening, but it doesn’t sound like a good idea.

The plan is to commission statues of 250 American heroes to be placed in a national garden.  Wikipedia has the list of people to be commemorated.

It’s not a good plan for a multitude of reasons.

Reason 1:  President Trump has underestimated America.  American exceptionalism is real.  There are far too many American heroes.

American hero, Chuck Yeager is not on the list.  He broke the sound barrier in the X-1 in 1947, and enabled the US to develop supersonic aircraft.

The 12 astronauts who have walked on the Moon should be on that list, along with the Apollo astronauts who stayed in lunar orbit and the Mercury and Gemini astronauts. The Congressional Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3536 people who distinguished themselves through acts of valor.

Reason 2:  President Trump named it wrong.  The National Garden of American Heroes is intended to honor great figures in American history.  That’s what Wikipedia says, and that matches the list of names.  A great figure isn’t necessarily a hero.

Neil Armstrong was heroic, Louis Armstrong played Dixieland jazz.  I’m glad we had both, but only one was a national hero.

The name of the project is wrong, but so is the premise.  What counts as a “great figure in American history?”

John Adams is a great figure in American history.  Ansel Adams was a landscape photographer known for his black and white pictures of the American West.

The list of names implies a list of exceptional Americans.  That seems to be what President Trump means.  There are too many.  One approach would be to honor them at museums established for their fields of expertise.  

John Philip Sousa, the composer of the national march of the United States, is not on the list.  He had a WW II Liberty ship named after him along with a musical instrument.  Woody Guthrie, the American socialist folk singer will get a statue. I’m gonna barf.

Heroes are important, particularly to boys. We should be clear about what is a hero, what is a historic figure and what is someone outstanding in their field.

Reason 3:  President Trump doesn’t say what happens next.  Baseball player Roberto Clemente is on the list, but Michael Phelps is not.  Clemente was chosen for 15 All-Star Games.  That must be pretty good, but is it better than winning 28 Olympic gold medals?  Phelps is still alive, while everyone else on the list is dead. 

If Phelps still holds the record for most Olympic gold medals, will he get a statue when he dies?  Is there a waiting period? 

President Trump seems to have decided on 250 statues because it’s our 250th anniversary.  If new statues aren’t added as necessary, then national stagnation is implied.

If Trump comes through on his intention to make America great again, we can expect to generate exceptional Americans at an increasing rate.  We could easily come up with a dozen people worthy of a statue each year.

Trump needs to rethink this whole thing.  There exists a Hall of Fame for Great Americans in Bronx, NYC.  It has fallen into disrepair and obscurity, so perhaps Trump hasn’t heard of it.  The last honorees were elected in 1976, the year of America’s 200th anniversary.  There is some significance in that.

President Trump could rescue and relocate that Hall of Fame since it addresses many of the flaws in the current plan for the National Garden of American Heroes.

The NGAH list of heroes aren’t heroes, but they are prominent people in so many different fields, it seems incoherent.  The Hall of Fame of Great Americans doesn’t promise heroes, just great Americans who excel in one of 15 different classes.  The NGAH list makes more sense if the honorees are sorted into these classes. 

Here’s the Hall of Fame classes.

  • authors and editors
  • business men
  • inventors
  • missionaries and explorers
  • philanthropists and reformers
  • clergymen and theologians
  • scientists
  • engineers and architects
  • lawyers and judges
  • musicians, painters, and sculptors
  • physicians and surgeons
  • politicians and statesmen
  • soldiers and sailors
  • teachers
  • distinguished men and women outside of these classes

Update the classes and adopt the policies of the Hall of Fame, and Trump would have a decent project. 

Somebody should tell him.