Burke: How Trump really measures against other presidents

By Tom Burke

Helsinki has a unique place in world history. Not just because, for the first time in our history, it was where an American president seemed to surrender to a deliberate Russian attack on our democracy; but because, in 1939, Helsinki’s people overcame another Russian attack against a democracy: Stalin’s assault on Finish sovereignty.

The Russo/Finnish “Winter War” was a short, modestly obscure conflict overshadowed by World War II. It began in November 1939 and lasted until March 1940. The Russians wanted a bunch of Finland and told the Finns, “Give it to us or we’ll take it.” (What they really wanted was the whole country, as they now want Crimea and Ukraine.)

The Finns said, “Ei!” (No!)

Russia invaded. And got fought to a standstill for four months, which was pretty embarrassing to Stalin, considering the population of Finland was 3.7 million (about the same as Seattle’s metro area) and the population of Russia was 170 million.

After the Russians changed tactics, using every available man in their army to simply overwhelm the Finns by sheer dint of numbers, the Finns gave up the land (the Karelian Peninsula), but kept their independence. The casualty ratio was astounding. The Finns lost 65,000 men; the Russians up to 900,000 by some counts!

The two important takeaways: 1. The undaunted courage of the Finnish leaders and people saved their country; 2. Hitler, noticing Russian military weakness, decided he could beat ‘em, invaded Russia and got crushed, losing the war in the east. Oops.

So, let’s talk about courage here in America, about presidents, and history.

For presidents, and people, there are two kinds of courage: physical courage and moral courage.

Physical courage is what sends first responders rushing into places other people are fleeing; men and women to join the armed forces and fight; and people to overcome debilitating physical conditions such as the loss of a limb, cancer or post-traumatic stress.

Moral courage is typified by — despite opposition, criticism, discouragement or personal loss — taking a stand on an issue; standing by core values despite the cost; or overcoming physical handicaps … in other words, “Doing the right thing.” (It is not, however, being ignorantly wrong or constantly lying for pure self-interest.)

Looking back on American presidents there is no shortage of either physical or moral courage.

But what I find illuminating today is comparing our current president (Der Furor, for those who read my last column), some of his predecessors, and today’s need for the courage to “fight” Putin.

Let’s start by contrasting President “Bone Spurs Deferment” to, say, Kennedy and PT109; Truman and his service in the trenches of the Great War (WWI); George Bush flying planes off the deck of an aircraft carrier (and getting shot down, only to keep flying), or his son piloting jets in the Air Force. Consider Teddy Roosevelt charging into the Spanish and their Mauser rifles on San Juan Hill, FDR overcoming polio, Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, Grant at Vicksburg and Petersburg, Regan joking while lying on a hospital gurney with a bullet in him; and the original American hero, George Washington, getting horses shot out from under him throughout the battles and skirmishes of the Revolution.

Next, let us compare Der Furor’s, “I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” with the moral courage of some other presidential predecessors.

Washington, again, to break from the Mother Country; Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, Homestead Act, and the 13th Amendment; Wilson and his 14 Points and “Making the world safe for democracy;” FDR and the New Deal, his leadership in WWII, and overcoming polio. (Oh, if only overcoming foot pain were as courageous as overcoming polio. But then Der Furor’s recovery, as evidenced by all time he spends on the golf course, just might be.)

There’s Ike and the D-Day decision to invade at Normandy; Truman desegregating the armed forces and implementing the Marshall Plan; Johnson and the Civil Rights Act; Nixon and China; Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence; and so many more people defending our rights by doing what’s right.

(Was every past president of the same moral fiber or courage as a Kennedy or Roosevelt? No. Are crises uncommon in our history? No again, they happen to every president, and not every president has risen to the occasion.)

But only history (or the House, Senate, federal courts or voters) will ultimately judge Trump’s actions. Der Furor’s moral and physical courage, judged by his words and actions in Helsinki, are pathetic, whether measured against other presidents, or simply against his own brave behavior, like when confronting the opposite sex, where he courageously said, “You can do anything … Grab them by the p***y. You can do anything.”

The words of a true hero that should make every American, what, proud?

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.