Skip to content
Politics & Current Affairs —

Why President Trump wants a military parade in Washington D.C.

President Donald Trump has requested that the U.S. armed forces stage a parade in the nation’s capital to feature America’s military might. The timing and source of the request has drawn a mixture of opinion.
Veterans of the Gulf War's 'Operation Desert Storm' march up Broadway's 'Canyon of Heroes,' in the Financial District of lower Manhattan. (ANDREW HOLBROOKE/Corbis via Getty Images)
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

According to the Washington Post, President Donald Trump has requested that the U.S. armed forces stage a parade in the nation’s capital to feature America’s military might. The timing and source of the request has drawn a mixture of opinion from high-ranking individuals. 

While opinion over the prospect of a military parade in the near future divides along partisan lines, there are some important distinctions worth considering—and recalling the place of the military in the life of a nation, for better or worse.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers laments the image such a parade would create and that we seek to imitate France in “military domain”, a joke at the expense of French military history.

I’m all for the US flag and totally behind the US military. I loathe those who favor cosmopolitanism over patriotism. But military parades bespeak a leader’s insecurity not true patriotism. Why, in military domain, are we trying to emulate France?

— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) February 7, 2018

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.
Related
Up Next