Guest Columnist
I’m currently reading Ron Chernow’s thousand page tome on Ulysses S. Grant. Chernow is an excellent biographer. Years ago, I read his work on Alexander Hamilton. I’m in the last third of the Grant book when he is president dealing with the Reconstruction period in the South, and it reminds me of post-war challenges which many have dubbed “winning the peace.” In some respects, it is more difficult than the war itself.
Think about our nation’s history. The American Revolution lasted for about seven years and resulted in a negotiated peace with Great Britain. Next came the difficult proposition of building a concentric nation. The Articles of Confederation, drafted in the wake of the Declaration of Independence, were inadequate to bind the nation together. In 1787, our city’s namesake, James Madison, brought the delegates from each of the 13 states together in Philadelphia to draft a Constitution that would create a confederation of united states into a single government. This had never been attempted before.
The War of 1812 was a bit of a mess and represented the second phase of the revolution. Andrew Jackson saved the day at New Orleans, and a negotiated peace again signaled the end of hostilities. America was left alone to continue its westward expansion, adding more territory in the process.
The Mexican War of 1845 was primarily about expanding the United States into Texas and the desert southwest. It was an imperial war against a weaker opponent. As the great powers of Europe were colonizing Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, America was expanding its borders westward toward the Pacific. Native Americans and Spaniards got in the way of this expansion and were marginalized.
The American Civil War was ultimately about the institution of slavery, and the resources of the North were too plentiful to ever permit southern triumph. When the shooting stopped in 1865 with the surrender of all the Confederate armies, the difficult job of keeping the peace had begun. There were four million freed men (with women and children) in the Southern states, and the issue of their rights under the three Reconstruction amendments (13-15) was a source of conflict. White supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan created a form of guerilla war that Grant struggled with during his two-term presidency (1869-1877).
Reconstruction ended through negotiated settlement and the lingering sore of recognizing African-Americans as full citizens would linger for another ninety years. While Grant found that winning our bloodiest war wasn’t easy, winning the peace was perhaps harder.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 was a relatively simple war of imperialism, fueled by the need to expand overseas bases for our Navy. The first major conflict of the 20th Century in Europe eventually became known as World War I. The peace was finally reached through negotiated settlement after four years, and the resulting treaty process was a disaster. The diplomatic failures at Versailles in 1919 led directly to a larger, more destructive conflict a generation later.
It is difficult to gauge exactly when World War II began, but it is unquestionably the most destructive war on earth thus far. The Allies accepted nothing less than unconditional surrender by Germany and Japan. America did a pretty credible job of winning the peace. A split with the Soviet Union could have fueled another war, but the Marshall Plan saved a starving war-torn Europe and helped rebuild the shattered nations. In Japan, America led by Douglas MacArthur rebuilt Japan in a democratic manner and completely transformed the island nation. Today, Germany and Japan are among our closest allies.
The Korean War was a proxy cold war, but we prevailed by negotiated settlement, and South Korea has greatly prospered since. Vietnam (the war I fought in) was pretty much of a disaster for the US. We failed to recognize that it was a civil war. A half century later, Vietnam is independent, unified and probably moving closer to the US sphere than China.
The Gulf War of 1990-91 was partially successful, but failed to finish the job. Afghanistan brought about following the 9/11 attacks, seems like a civil war that is continuing to linger. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 attempted to complete the job that began in 1990. While it was relatively easy to depose Saddam’s government and defeat his military, winning the peace was a tough nut to crack.
As we survey more than two hundred years of history, what can we conclude about our track record? First, winning the peace is more difficult, if not quite so destructive. Second, interfering in another nation’s civil conflict usually works out poorly. Third, it is never a good idea to begin a war without a clear understanding of what the post-war peace will look like and how to achieve it. And fourth, imperialism rarely works out over the long run.