David Frum, current senior editor for 'The Atlantic' and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, is no stranger to our digital pages. While every once in a while there is reason give Frum a clap on the back for a job well done, for the most part Frum operates as one of the many reliable producers of bad and poorly thought out takes on Twitter. And since today is a day ending in Y David Frum has once again graced us with one of his legendarily terrible takes... a cri de cœur for the 'uncancelling' of Woodrow Wilson to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of the late President.
Next Saturday, February 3, marks 100 years since the death of President Woodrow Wilson. No US president has suffered such a calamitous collapse in reputation from peak to now. In the issue of the Atlantic that ships Monday, I argue the case for uncancelling Wilson.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) January 27, 2024
The article is both a close study of Wilson himself - but also an attempt to answer the question, "How should we think about great men and women of the past who held views or did things condemned by the consensus opinion of today?" Condemn altogether - or save what's valuable?
— David Frum (@davidfrum) January 27, 2024
Uhuh... should we condemn Wilson or save 'what's valuable' huh? The question on everyone's lips seems to be what value there is to save when it comes to Wilson.
I mean he resegregated the government, he was a eugenicist, he threw people in jail for exercising their first amendment rights, but other than that and a few other evil missteps, he was a swell guy.
— Sexy Dad Bod Mike (@bod25mike) January 27, 2024
David Frum and @TheRickWilson wanting the south to rise again. pic.twitter.com/kF6gOsbtjS
— The Doctor (@TennantRob) January 27, 2024
Woodrow Wilson was an incredibly racist person. You state how should we reflect on men and women of the past who held contemptible views? Well, that’s easy, be honest about who they were and not attempt to rewrite history. There were many white Americans at the time who were not…
— Shermichael Singleton (@Shermichael_) January 27, 2024
Recommended
Woodrow Wilson was an incredibly racist person. You state how should we reflect on men and women of the past who held contemptible views? Well, that’s easy, be honest about who they were and not attempt to rewrite history. There were many white Americans at the time who were not racist, many who actually fought to end discrimination, Wilson sought to uphold it. Under his administration he segregated federal offices, held views that were sympathetic to white supremacy, and was a proponent of Jim Crow laws.
Yeah, Wilson was a swell guy. You can really see why David Frum was drawn to the subject matters, we guess.
You wanna uncancel the guy who re-segregated the federal government and aired KKK propaganda in the White House? Who jailed political opponents, cracked down on free speech, and instituted a quasi-fascistic regime?
— Will, the Teruo Nakamura of Burgum stans (@spudhawg) January 27, 2024
You know who got a bad rap?? The guy who RE-segregated the federal government and helped bring about the modern KKK.”
— Arturo Boremano (definitely NOT “Arthur Boreman”) (@ArthurBoreman) January 27, 2024
Let's not overly focus on his racism.
— Kosher adjacent Dennis🏴☠️🦜 (@Buzzsaws1990) January 27, 2024
Let's also remember his disdain for the US constitution and role in sowing the seeds of WW II.
But you know... other than that. All in all nobody seems to be surprised that this is a hill that Frum has decided to die on.
You would.
— Calamity Jen (@realjenx) January 27, 2024
You have the intellectual depth of oily asphalt sheen.
— Write Girl Problems (@WriteGrlProbs) January 27, 2024
On a scale of an actual Puritan to Hunter Biden flush with Ukranian money, how high were you when you both wrote this article and tweet?
— Magnus (@JacksonTDawes) January 27, 2024
Our money is on 'Tony Montana' level of high.
Woodrow Wilson was easily the worst president of the 20th century & probably ever.
— Mike Coté (@ratlpolicy) January 27, 2024
He started the income tax, resegregated the federal government, & attacked civil liberties. He joined WWI too late to prevent mass death, but early enough to horribly screw up the peace. He sucks. https://t.co/CrtfGV2d1U
Wilson was a racist.
— Amy Curtis 🇮🇱 (@RantyAmyCurtis) January 27, 2024
You don’t gotta “uncancel” him. https://t.co/6jB0wXpUyZ
This will be the first in David Frum’s upcoming presidents series. Subsequent pieces include “James Buchanan: Political Genius” and “FDR and the Failure To Intern Italian-Americans During the War” https://t.co/FgzLSzSpDF
— Aelfred The Great (@aelfred_D) January 27, 2024
Frum will doubtless put Robert Caro to shame with his in depth breakdowns attempting to rehabilitate the reputations of former US Presidents!
There are some people who really don't deserve a reputational cleansing and rehabilitation. This isn't a question of cancel culture and no one thinks we should forget the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, far from it! We should all remember him for the virulent racist that he was, the power hungry President who's responsible for many of the issues with centralization of power within the Federal government rather than the state governments that we deal with to this very day. Wilson was everything that was and is wrong with the Democratic Party embodied into one man... and this doesn't even get in to his wife Edith who hijacked the Presidency when her husband was too ill to continue doing his job effectively.
Hey, does that remind you of any President we know?!
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