Let history be the judge.
Those five words may be the best way to think about state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman’s proposal to name the section of I-55 that runs through Arnold in honor of President Donald J. Trump.
The bill that Coleman (R-Arnold) filed on Jan. 5, on the eve of the first day of the new legislative session, aims to name the section of the interstate between Hwy. 141 and Richardson Road after Trump. It was one of six bills she filed.
The bill was introduced on Jan. 6, along with hundreds of other pieces of legislation. That same day, a riot broke out at the U.S. Capitol as Trump supporters stormed the building to disrupt the counting of Electoral College votes that would certify Joe Biden’s victory in the November election. On Wednesday, Biden was sworn in as the nation’s 46th president.
The riot, its subsequent five deaths, 20 arrests and the likelihood of many more arrests and charges to come, have put Coleman’s proposal in a bad light.
However, she is not backing off her proposal.
“I, along with millions of Missourians, voted for President Trump, and I will continue my push to rename a portion of I-55 in his honor,” Coleman said in a statement she released on Jan. 8. “Renaming a highway is a fairly standard honor that has been bestowed upon past presidents who did far less. Wednesday’s violence was completely unacceptable. We are the Party of law and order and must act like it. Wednesday’s events did not change my position that President Trump should be honored for his accomplishments over the last four years.”
In light of the Jan. 6 events, many believe it would be a hard pill to swallow that anything should be done to commemorate Trump and his time in office.
That sentiment seems to be shared by most people who weighed in with 484 comments on Coleman’s post “Join the fight for I-55” on her Facebook page, VoteMaryElizabethColeman.
Putting aside an immediate reaction to a riot that some feel Trump instigated with his continual unsubstantiated claims of election fraud and his words uttered mere hours before the unfortunate scene at the Capitol, isn’t it too soon to judge whether any president should be honored so quickly after his time in office ends?
Let history play out before deciding if a tribute should be bestowed upon any public official.
Heck, even baseball waits five years after a player’s retirement before letting voters decide if he belongs in the Hall of Fame, even though for most, those tickets already are all but punched before their careers end.
How many today would want James Buchanan to be honored because he stood up for states’ rights in his final days as president? He said he believed the Constitution gave him no power to act against states declaring the intention to withdraw from the Union after Abraham Lincoln was declared president.
Buchanan believed history would look favorably on his performance. Instead, his inaction and silence are seen as factors that led to the Civil War.
History also has changed many people’s views on Andrew Johnson, who was so steadfast in his support of the Union he kept his Senate seat from Tennessee after secession, became Lincoln’s vice president and then president after Lincoln’s assassination.
Johnson clashed with Republicans in Congress over numerous Reconstruction measures, vetoed the renewal of the Freedman’s Bureau and the first civil rights bill and encouraged opposition to the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship and civil rights to former slaves.
Johnson was the first president to be impeached, and he was nearly convicted. At the time, he was seen by many as standing up for states’ rights, but as history played out, he is viewed as turning a blind eye to Southerners trying to undo what the Civil War accomplished.
Time allows perspective. Time allows evaluation of how actions affect people and what decisions were helpful or harmful to a nation. Time allows emotions to cool and true thought and study to guide decisions.
Arnold Mayor Ron Counts said he also thinks the passage of time is important before the stretch of interstate that runs through his city is named for Trump.
“With everything that is going on, I think it needs to be held off a little bit to see how everything comes out,” Counts said. “I think there is a lot of controversy. I think we need to give it a little bit of time.”
Counts, who was running unopposed for re-election heading into Tuesday’s filing deadline, and other elected city officials are powerless to alter plans to rename the highway.
The outcome of the bill will be determined by state representatives and senators. City officials can make their opinions known, just like you or me, by calling or writing representatives, but Arnold officials ultimately have no say-so if Trump’s name will or will not be stamped on signs along I-55 through the city.
Counts said he has no plans to lobby for an outcome one way or the other. Navigating through and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic is on the top of his to-do list, he said.
“It (Coleman’s proposal) is not even on my priority list,” Counts said. “My priority list is dealing with the COVID virus, getting a vaccine here and taking care of our folks here in Arnold. I’ve got my hands full.”
He apparently has no time to worry about signs.
