Arlington Cemetery’s quiet dignity is no place for Trump’s grandiosity

Detailed summary

From JFK’s grave to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the cemetery honors sacrifice without spectacle. Trump’s proposed triumphal arch threatens that tradition.

Jill Abramson, a former executive editor of The New York Times, teaches journalism at Northeastern University and is a contributing Globe Opinion writer.

“It’s an honor for me to be here.” That’s what Clifton Pollard, a gravedigger at Arlington National Cemetery, said when he was asked to dig the grave of John F. Kennedy.

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had selected a sloping hill with a vista of Washington, D.C., for the slain president’s resting place. It’s where Pollard, known as “Polly,” prepared the grave. He couldn’t have known that the writer Jimmy Breslin, who followed the gravedigger that day, would immortalize him in one of the most famous pieces of journalism ever written.

After the funeral the next day, Jackie Kennedy lit an eternal flame of remembrance at the grave, inspired by one she and her husband had seen in Paris during a 1961 visit to the Arc de Triomphe.

The Arc has also inspired President Trump, who wants to build an even taller arch — some 250 feet high — in the circle near the entrance to Arlington Cemetery. But this triumphal arch would block the view of the graves of JFK, his brother, Robert, and Jackie Kennedy. That’s one of the reasons why some Kennedy relatives filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to stop construction of the Trump arch.

According to their complaint, “The arch would block views of the Kennedy Gravesites and Eternal Flame from Arlington Memorial Bridge — a sightline specially chosen by the Kennedy family. The arch would also cast a shadow over the Kennedys’ graves, especially in the early morning when the family traditionally visits.”

There are other legal efforts to block the project, and a federal judge has postponed any construction through Nov. 20, two days before the 63d anniversary of the JFK assassination.

Vietnam War veterans, the District of Columbia, and the state of Virginia are among the other parties suing to stop the arch. The joint suit of Virginia and D.C.

Still, Trump insists his grandiose arch must be built.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Boston Globe. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.