General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation
"He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America; he was a poised and inspiring leader, true to the high trust reposed in him by millions of his fellow citizens… Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his faith in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history…” (Civil War Profiles, Aug. 10, 2014)
Maury Hall at the Naval Academy was renamed for former President Jimmy Carter due to a Confederate connection (USNI News, Feb. 17, 2023)
This is what President Carter asserted about Lee in the 1970s: “Robert E. Lee was a man who understood the values of a region which he represented. He was never filled with hatred. He never felt a sense of superiority. He led the southern cause with pride, yes, but with a sense of reluctance as well. He fought his battles courageously.” (The American Presidency Project, Jan. 20, 1978)
The bases in question were named by the people of the region in which the bases were located due to the local respect for those personalities. James McPherson, the nation’s most renowned author and historian of the American Civil War spent years researching the motivations of Confederates. He personally read over 25,000 letters and hundreds of diaries and determined the overwhelming motivation for southern soldiers was “their homes, their families, and for liberty from the Northern States and patriotic beliefs... since the war was fought primarily in the South the preservation of their home front became a prime motivator for Confederate soldiers.” (Civil War Era NC, James McPherson, What They Fought For)
