Donald Trump recently released a new executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” Let’s break it down.
Trump writes:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose and Policy. Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth. This revisionist movement seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light. Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed. Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made and the ideals that continue to inspire millions around the globe.
History is not about “objective facts.” Facts and dates mean nothing apart from a narrative. The discipline of history is a debate about what the facts mean and how they should be interpreted.
In the last 100 years, historians have changed the country’s historical narrative. Narratives change when new archival material is uncovered, sources are examined in fresh ways, or previously marginalized voices (women, people of color, working people, etc.) are included. All history is thus revisionist. Historian R.G. Collingswood wrote that “every new generation must rewrite history in its own way; every new historian, not content with giving new answers to old questions, must revise the question themselves.” This may mean that a historian will challenge the cherished myths of a particular view of one’s country. As new evidence emerges and historians discover new ways of bringing the past to their audiences in the present, interpretations of specific events change. This makes history an exciting and intellectually engaging discipline.
Not all American historians hate the United States. Many are concerned citizens. They want students to see the American past in all its complexity so citizens can have historically informed and nuanced debates about the republic we have inherited. Trump is correct: The United States has had an “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness.” But it has also been “racist, sexist, oppressive, and flawed.” (I don’t know many historians, however, who believe the United States is “irredeemably flawed.”) Trump wants to ignore the dark spots in America history. In doing so, he wants teachers to turn a blind eye to large swaths of the country’s past. History teachers who take Trump’s advice engage in pedagogical malpractice. Such an approach is the exact opposite of “fostering…a deeper understanding of our shared past.”
More Trump:
The prior administration advanced this corrosive ideology. At Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — where our Nation declared that all men are created equal — the prior administration sponsored training by an organization that advocates dismantling “Western foundations” and “interrogating institutional racism” and pressured National Historical Park rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they convey history to visiting Americans because America is purportedly racist.
I am not sure what Trump is referring to here. I think he may be drawing from this National Review piece. I will say this: The ideas embraced at Independence Hall were indeed rooted in the Western, Enlightenment tradition. It is also true that those ideas were not always applied consistently to all human beings living within the bounds of the newly formed nation. Trump wants teachers to tell the former story. He does not want teachers to tell the latter story.
More Trump:
Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology. This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive. For example, the Smithsonian American Art Museum today features “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,” an exhibit representing that “[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.” The exhibit further claims that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct, stating “Race is a human invention.”
This paragraph does not make much sense. Trump laments an exhibit calling attention to scientific racism and then suggests that race is biological. The claim that “race is biological” led to the idea that some races were more “civilized” than others because of their superior biology.
Having said that, race is merely one window into understanding the human experience. I am confident that those in charge of the Smithsonian museums understand this. If they don’t, that is a problem.
More Trump:
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has proclaimed that “hard work,” “individualism,” and “the nuclear family” are aspects of “White culture.” The forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum plans on celebrating the exploits of male athletes participating in women’s sports. These are just a few examples.
I don’t know where Trump is getting this information or whether it is true.
More Trump:
It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing. Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.
In my view, this paragraph only gets it half right. Indeed, museums should inspire. But different Americans will be inspired in different ways. Museums are also about education and good education always makes us uncomfortable. I hope that museums like the Smithsonian can be places of inspiration and education.
More Trump:
To advance this policy, we will restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness –- igniting the imagination of young minds, honoring the richness of American history and innovation, and instilling pride in the hearts of all Americans.
This sounds like Trump wants to turn the Smithsonian museums into “Make America Great Again” shrines by whitewashing American history. He wants these museums to be centers of government propaganda, not history.
More:
Sec. 2. Saving Our Smithsonian. (a) The Vice President, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Staff Secretary, Lindsey Halligan, Esq., shall work to effectuate the policies of this order through his role on the Smithsonian Board of Regents with respect to the Smithsonian Institution and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo, including by seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties, and shall recommend to the President any additional actions necessary to fully effectuate such policies.
b) The Vice President and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall work with the Congress to ensure that future appropriations to the Smithsonian Institution:
(i) prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy; and
(ii) celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women’s History Museum and do not recognize men as women in any respect in the Museum.
(c) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Interior shall take any other measures within their authority to promote the policy of this order.
(d) As appropriate, the Vice President shall, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Staff Secretary, Lindsey Halligan, Esq., work with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate Majority Leader, to seek the appointment of citizen members to the Smithsonian Board of Regents committed to advancing the policy of this order.
Sec. 3. Restoring Independence Hall. The Secretary of the Interior shall provide sufficient funding, as available, to improve the infrastructure of Independence National Historical Park, which shall be complete by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Vice President JD Vance sits on the Smithsonian’s board. Halligan is a Trump lawyer.
I am also interested in what infrastructure development at Independence Hall will look like. The Philadelphia Inquirer is interested in finding out more as well.
More:
Sec. 4. Restoring Truth in American History.
(a) The Secretary of the Interior shall:
(i) determine whether, since January 1, 2020, public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology;
(ii) take action to reinstate the pre-existing monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties, as appropriate and consistent with 43 U.S.C. 1451 et seq., 54 U.S.C. 100101 et seq.,and other applicable law; and
(iii) take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.
It sounds like Trump wants to restore the monuments taken down after the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020. This also sounds like Trump wants to remove the plaques and markers placed on many monuments after 2020 to contextualize them.
Read the rest of the executive order here.
