Jun 29, 2005

Book Review

Betsy Who?

Symbols are what you make of them, but it seems that there's little distinction among the throng once the colors have been trooped mid-field and we're all on our feet. At that point, no one knows whether you're standing in memory of a soldier who's just bought it outside of Karabila or because you still hold out hope for the revolutionary ideals the Patriot Act has yet to shred.

For a learned take on this and where similar traditions sprang, you'd be smart to turn to Flag: An American Biography [Thomas Dunne Books, 2005], Marc Leepson's new "bio" of our nation's ensign. Therein you'll find out how many folds it takes to properly stow an American flag (18), and how the theme for Francis Scott Key's infamous ditty actually grew from the melody of an English pub tune ("To Anacreon in Heaven"). And let's not forget the groundless myth that Betsy Ross designed the flag while the Continental Army stood outside her door waiting for a banner with which to adorn its coming glory. Leepson quotes Temple University history professor Morris Vogel on the Betsy Ross tale as saying: "Betsy Ross became America's founding mother to complement the Founding Fathers. It was the immaculate conception: George Washington comes to visit and the flag literally issues forth from her lap."

Today's scholars think a more likely candidate is Francis Hopkinson, a ward of Ben Franklin's and a man who had a role in designing the Great Seal of the United States. At first he asked for nothing more than "a Quarter Cask of the public Wine" as compensation for all his Federal design efforts (he later upped the ante to 2700 pounds), but was eventually turned down.

By 1854, more than two dozen anti-immigrant members of Congress visually adopted the banner as part of the American Party's bid to keep the Irish and German Catholics out of the country. Leepson delivers this and gobs more meticulously detailed accounts over 300+ pages and annotations that at once astound, engage and inspire much thought and reflection.

Feeling mild to severe revulsion when another Old Glory pin sprouts upon the lapel of some loathsome post-9/11 politician, I can now take heart in knowing that such a self-righteous act actually runs contrary to Section 3 of U.S. Flag Code. And I'm no longer confused at the slight awe I recently experienced upon peering into the glass bubble where the Star-Spangled Banner is currently undergoing microscopic restoration. Wal-Mart sold "some 450,000 American flags in the three days after September 11," and 7.8 million more in the year after that. And with Anne Coulter's latest book looking to redeem McCarthy not too long after the three daughters (ages 11, 8 and 5 years old) of Sindous Abbas were killed instantly when a Baathist-seeking missile struck their home in early 2003, I'm glad there's enough to go around. I feel that I, too, could use the psychological protection.

Q&A With Author Marc Leepson

Flagpole: How long did it take you to put this together?

Marc Leepson: Approximately a year and a half of research, writing and editing.

FP: What was the toughest part to research? ML: The toughest part was when I was trying to get a handle on the question of, number one, Do Americans have a special feeling for our flag, and number two, if so, why? And I really do believe that we do have a special feeling for the flag. And that comes from asking all the experts, reading as widely as I could, and asking people in other countries too. The question of why was the hardest thing. And I didn't really try to answer it so much as give an idea of why. But I don't think I've really come to a definitive conclusion.

FP: I was amazed at how you were able to maintain this sort of lockstep objectivity throughout the book.

ML: That was my goal. It can be a very, very polarizing political topic. History is what I had in mind. Narrative history. And I really concentrated hard on being objective.

FP: What's your personal relationship to the flag, being a Vietnam veteran?

ML: I'm 60 years old, and I consider myself liberal. I'm proud that I served my country. I don't think the war was the right war, but you don't get to pick your wars. I can't say that I was a flag waver in the aftermath of the Vietnam war, but I put a flag out after September 11. But I admit it, when I go to a ball game and they play "The Star-Spangled Banner," I get emotional. I think about guys I knew in Vietnam. Not that I had a horrible experience. I was very lucky, but I did know people who were killed and wounded, and I do think of them. And that's another thing: I'm not quite sure why. It's totally emotional. It's not rational, but there it is. I'm a child of the '50s, and I grew up saluting the flag and it's still part of me.
JoE Silva

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