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May 09, 2008, 10:24 PM ET
Remedies for the Ignorance
In the Wall Street Journal today is a review of a book by Theodore Sorensen, chief writer for John F. Kennedy during his presidency. It opens with a startling fact about the American White House:
“In the five years since it opened, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia has polled its visitors on who our greatest president was. To date, more than 1.8 million people have voted. Roughly half the visitors, not surprisingly, have chosen George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. But in third place is John F. Kennedy, having received more votes than Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt combined.”
This is remarkable. How in the world could Kennedy beat out Jefferson and FDR together? For an obvious reason: Celebrity outdoes historical truth. Until Oliver Stone and Life magazine and the other mythmakers do the same thing for the latter two that they did for the former, the public will continue to honor the fantasy.
The error underscores the duty of historians and teachers to correct the record. Historical ignorance and illiteracy persist, and with the forces of mass media backing them up, academia is sometimes the only bastion holding the line.
This is why we need programs like:
Program in Western Civilization & American Institutions
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