Discovering the journey of John Bingham, the man who prosecuted Booth's co-conspirators, led the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, and authored critical language in the 14th Amendment.
Given our historical focus on the presidency (I am guilty of this as well) I thoroughly enjoy these type of articles that illuminate important historical figures whose names may not resonate. It is hard to not read Jeff's line, "Bingham stood on the side of “right” but used force to achieve his goals," and not think of our present day when compromise is seen as appeasement and the unserious in Congress get the press. Agree or disagree with Jeff's assessment of Bingham, he comes across as a very serious man in this piece.
Thank you. I don't mean to suggest that he was not on the right side, I mean that it is difficult to know what is right and what isn't. And if one belives they are right they should seek a large consenses of the people. When force is used, rebellion tends to follow in one form or another. I do believe there were better ways to handle reconstruction, which would have benifited not just the white southerners and the north but also the Freedmen. Comproising on prinicple is not always the best policy but forcing prinicible isn't either.
We have a tradition in Latter-day Saint culture to do what are called "Pioneer Treks" where we re-enact the experience of handcart companies that moved West to Salt Lake City in the 1800s, usually on the very trails they moved across in Wyoming and Utah. One lesson that always stuck out to me was making sure the wheels were properly greased before going up a hill. If the wheels weren't greased right, didn't matter how strong you were or how much you wanted to get up that hill, the friction of the ungreased wheels denied you the ability to get up the hill. That, to me, is the lesson of prudence in things such as politics. You have to grease those wheels. If you don't, it doesn't matter how well-intentioned you are, it doesn't matter how much truth is on your side, and it doesn't matter just how much you really, really believe that something's the right thing to do. You're going to run into too much friction if you haven't ensured that those wheels are greased. And, sometimes, if your strength gives out and the handcart goes flying, you not only lose everything you've worked for but you end up making one hell of a mess that leaves things worse off than before.
Given our historical focus on the presidency (I am guilty of this as well) I thoroughly enjoy these type of articles that illuminate important historical figures whose names may not resonate. It is hard to not read Jeff's line, "Bingham stood on the side of “right” but used force to achieve his goals," and not think of our present day when compromise is seen as appeasement and the unserious in Congress get the press. Agree or disagree with Jeff's assessment of Bingham, he comes across as a very serious man in this piece.
Thank you. I don't mean to suggest that he was not on the right side, I mean that it is difficult to know what is right and what isn't. And if one belives they are right they should seek a large consenses of the people. When force is used, rebellion tends to follow in one form or another. I do believe there were better ways to handle reconstruction, which would have benifited not just the white southerners and the north but also the Freedmen. Comproising on prinicple is not always the best policy but forcing prinicible isn't either.
We have a tradition in Latter-day Saint culture to do what are called "Pioneer Treks" where we re-enact the experience of handcart companies that moved West to Salt Lake City in the 1800s, usually on the very trails they moved across in Wyoming and Utah. One lesson that always stuck out to me was making sure the wheels were properly greased before going up a hill. If the wheels weren't greased right, didn't matter how strong you were or how much you wanted to get up that hill, the friction of the ungreased wheels denied you the ability to get up the hill. That, to me, is the lesson of prudence in things such as politics. You have to grease those wheels. If you don't, it doesn't matter how well-intentioned you are, it doesn't matter how much truth is on your side, and it doesn't matter just how much you really, really believe that something's the right thing to do. You're going to run into too much friction if you haven't ensured that those wheels are greased. And, sometimes, if your strength gives out and the handcart goes flying, you not only lose everything you've worked for but you end up making one hell of a mess that leaves things worse off than before.