JOHN KELLY/TRUMP PEOPLE: “White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s comment that the U.S. Civil War was sparked by a lack of ‘compromise’ drew criticism and reignited a debate over Confederate monuments and the role of slavery.
In an interview on Monday [10-30-17] night with Fox News, Kelly was asked whether a Virginia church should have removed plaques honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee and President George Washington, both Virginians. Kelly said figures of the past could not be viewed through the lens of current moral values.
‘I think it’s just very, very dangerous and it shows you … how much of a lack of appreciation of history and what history is,’ Kelly said. ‘I will tell you that Robert E. Lee was an honorable man.’
‘The lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War, and men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had them make their stand,’ Kelly added.
The comment sparked an immediate backlash, with critics noting that the United States had made a number of compromises on slavery before tensions eventually erupted into the war between the North and the South in 1861.”
-Reuters Staff, “Trump chief of staff’s Civil War comment draws fire,” Reuters, Oct. 31, 2017 07:06am