Almost two weeks after the presidential election, US Ambassador Victoria Reggie Kennedy made her first public statement about the victory of right-wing populist Donald Trump. “There are rocky times ahead of us. We cannot pretend that this is not the case,” said Kennedy on Monday evening in a panel discussion with the influential US historian Doris Kearns Goodwin at Webster University in Vienna.
Kearns is considered a doyenne of American historiography and, with her biographies of legendary presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, not only shaped their image in the US public. Her Lincoln portrait “Team of Rivals” is also said to have persuaded US President Barack Obama to appoint his bitter primary election opponent Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. According to Obama, “Team of Rivals” is the book that he would take with him to a deserted island.
“Since Donald Trump’s clear victory, many friends in Austria have asked me what that means,” said Kennedy at the start of the discussion with Kearns Goodwin in the packed auditorium of the US private university. “I can’t think of anyone better to explain this historic year than you, Doris,” the ambassador described the US historian as an “icon” and leading expert on US presidential history.
In the humorous conversation, Kearns Goodwin told how baseball game reports at the age of six sparked her interest in history and that it took her longer to write her biography of World War II President Franklin D. Roosevelt “than the war lasted.” “I was only with my late husband longer” than with the presidents she portrayed, she said, to the amusement of the audience.
US presidents are rarely equally competent in foreign and domestic policy, and many great presidents have had to contend with strokes of fate in their lives, reported Kearns Goodwin. For Theodore Roosevelt, for example, the death of his wife and mother forced him to dedicate himself to public service without calculation, while the polio disease taught FDR humility. The 81-year-old expressed doubts about whether she would still have the opportunity to portray a US president.
Kearns Goodwin looks calmly at the existential concerns about US democracy expressed by both sides during the recent presidential election. There have been similar situations several times in history, “but we forget about it.” In 1860, six southern US states seceded simply because the Republican Abraham Lincoln had won the presidential election. As a result, the USA paid “a terrible price” in the form of the civil war with its 600,000 deaths, but ultimately not only was national unity restored, but the “original sin” of the United States with slavery was also eradicated. “So we emerged stronger from it,” emphasized the historian. It was similar under Roosevelt’s presidency, when all of Europe capitulated to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and the entire Western civilization was “in danger.”
Trump recommended that Kearns Goodwin follow Lincoln’s example. “I hope he won’t punish his enemies,” she said, referring to the future president. Rather, he should make room in his cabinet “for people who don’t agree with him.” Lincoln was rather inexperienced politically when he was elected and then made “the huge decision” to take his three much more experienced intra-party rivals into government, even though they all considered themselves to be the better president.
Kennedy thanked the historian for giving people “hope” with her findings. “We don’t know how this will all turn out, but perhaps we can play a role by taking action,” the ambassador called on citizens to get involved. The great strength of the transatlantic relationship gives her hope. This is based on common values such as advocating free trade or media freedom. “No matter what challenges lie ahead, we don’t have to face them alone. That gives me comfort and encourages me to look to the future with optimism,” said the party colleague of outgoing President Joe Biden.
