arms, where she lingered for a moment too long after the danger had passed.
W HEN I WAS SIX years old, I took a tour of the White House with my parents and when we were in the Mary Todd Lincoln Bedroom, a raccoon made a similar impromptu appearance. It is the kind ofevent that makes an indelible impression on a six-year-old and I remember every detail vividly. I remember people were quite startled and my mother nearly jumped out of her skin. I remember people decompressed in a peculiar way by reminiscing about an event that had occurred only moments before. And I remember several jokes being made about Richard Nixon, which I did not get, but laughed at anyway in the spirit of the moment and because I recognized the name of someone my parents disliked.
The repeat appearance of a raccoon so many years later is not as coincidental as it might appear at first blush. Calvin Coolidge’s wife had a pet raccoon named Rebecca who started a family, which for the next century chewed through the wiring in the walls, pilfered unguarded cheese, and generally gave the White House maintenance crew fits.
It does make me question, though, the old saw Ralph repeated about people who don’t know history. The implication is that people who do know history will not end up repeating it either by not doing the thing of historic moment or doing it better so the consequences are different. But I’m not so sure.
People who say, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it” are actually saying, “Don’t fight a two-front war in Europe.” It’s really a veiled shot at Hitler for trying the same thing Napoleon had unsuccessfully tried a century before. But what was Hitler supposed to do? He didn’t choose to be born in Germany with its tenuous strategic position. Once he made the highly questionable decision to conquer the world, he had no choice but to fight in Europe. That’s where he lived.
The principle attributes too little weight to the twists of fate that truly drive the force of history. It wasn’t Hitler’s ignorance that sealed his fate, it was his bad luck (good luck from a more global perspective) of being born on the same plains land as Napoleon, which anyone who has ever played Risk knows is nearly impossible to defend. The thought that knowledge is sufficient to alter the course of destiny is laughable when one thinks about the infinite, arbitrary, and powerful forces at work.
I mean, suppose someone could have gotten to Grace Coolidge and explained to her the problems with keeping raccoons in the White House—both the problems raccoons had caused in important government buildings throughout history and the problems herown beloved Rebecca would cause in the future. What difference would it have made? Another raccoon still very well might have gotten into the White House ventilation system and made a family, and anyone who owns a home knows once raccoons get in there’s not much that can be done. They are persistent and resilient creatures. My neighbor once had one in his attic. He trapped the critter, released him in a forest thirty miles away, and, believe it or not, the little guy was back in the attic three days later.
R ALPH TOOK J ESSICA UPSTAIRS , to the more upbeat parts of the house. He showed her the Library, the Vermeil Room with its collection of Hummel figurines, and then the famous Blue Room.
“This has always been used as a reception room, except during the Truman Administration when J. Edgar Hoover used to keep his corsets here,” Ralph explained. “Interestingly, the blue fabric used on the furniture is EZ Wipe, just like in nursery schools.”
“Cute,” said Jessica.
They walked to the Map Room. “FDR used to use this as a situation room, but now it’s a room where the President and First Lady entertain guests,” Ralph explained. “It is decorated in the Chippendale style, which flourished in the late eighteenth century.”
“Do you have any idea what the Chippendale
W HEN I WAS SIX years old, I took a tour of the White House with my parents and when we were in the Mary Todd Lincoln Bedroom, a raccoon made a similar impromptu appearance. It is the kind ofevent that makes an indelible impression on a six-year-old and I remember every detail vividly. I remember people were quite startled and my mother nearly jumped out of her skin. I remember people decompressed in a peculiar way by reminiscing about an event that had occurred only moments before. And I remember several jokes being made about Richard Nixon, which I did not get, but laughed at anyway in the spirit of the moment and because I recognized the name of someone my parents disliked.
The repeat appearance of a raccoon so many years later is not as coincidental as it might appear at first blush. Calvin Coolidge’s wife had a pet raccoon named Rebecca who started a family, which for the next century chewed through the wiring in the walls, pilfered unguarded cheese, and generally gave the White House maintenance crew fits.
It does make me question, though, the old saw Ralph repeated about people who don’t know history. The implication is that people who do know history will not end up repeating it either by not doing the thing of historic moment or doing it better so the consequences are different. But I’m not so sure.
People who say, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it” are actually saying, “Don’t fight a two-front war in Europe.” It’s really a veiled shot at Hitler for trying the same thing Napoleon had unsuccessfully tried a century before. But what was Hitler supposed to do? He didn’t choose to be born in Germany with its tenuous strategic position. Once he made the highly questionable decision to conquer the world, he had no choice but to fight in Europe. That’s where he lived.
The principle attributes too little weight to the twists of fate that truly drive the force of history. It wasn’t Hitler’s ignorance that sealed his fate, it was his bad luck (good luck from a more global perspective) of being born on the same plains land as Napoleon, which anyone who has ever played Risk knows is nearly impossible to defend. The thought that knowledge is sufficient to alter the course of destiny is laughable when one thinks about the infinite, arbitrary, and powerful forces at work.
I mean, suppose someone could have gotten to Grace Coolidge and explained to her the problems with keeping raccoons in the White House—both the problems raccoons had caused in important government buildings throughout history and the problems herown beloved Rebecca would cause in the future. What difference would it have made? Another raccoon still very well might have gotten into the White House ventilation system and made a family, and anyone who owns a home knows once raccoons get in there’s not much that can be done. They are persistent and resilient creatures. My neighbor once had one in his attic. He trapped the critter, released him in a forest thirty miles away, and, believe it or not, the little guy was back in the attic three days later.
R ALPH TOOK J ESSICA UPSTAIRS , to the more upbeat parts of the house. He showed her the Library, the Vermeil Room with its collection of Hummel figurines, and then the famous Blue Room.
“This has always been used as a reception room, except during the Truman Administration when J. Edgar Hoover used to keep his corsets here,” Ralph explained. “Interestingly, the blue fabric used on the furniture is EZ Wipe, just like in nursery schools.”
“Cute,” said Jessica.
They walked to the Map Room. “FDR used to use this as a situation room, but now it’s a room where the President and First Lady entertain guests,” Ralph explained. “It is decorated in the Chippendale style, which flourished in the late eighteenth century.”
“Do you have any idea what the Chippendale
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