The public nature of Friday’s Oval Office argument between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky may be unprecedented, but this is not the first time the United States has been involved in a war stalemated after three years.
Let’s go back to when France and the new US signed a treaty in 1778. American forces depended on French arms, money, and eventually soldiers. But in 1781 the American Revolution was in trouble. British troops continued to occupy New York City. They had captured 5,000 American soldiers and sailors in Charleston, South Carolina. Some of George Washington’s soldiers mutinied.
Benjamin Franklin returned to Paris and for a time was popular. He wore a fur hat and a brown coat, giving him what the French saw as the look of a “rugged American frontiersman.” But courtiers at the Versailles palace tired of him—and here’s an exclusive look at the transcript of a meeting between King Louis XVI and Franklin:
Louis XVI: “You want me to say really terrible things about George III and then say, ‘Hi, Georgie. How are we doing on the deal?’ I want to get this thing over with.”
Franklin: “The British forces have killed many of us. You think this is just a war in America? London sent troops on your soil before and will do so again. You don’t feel it now, but you will feel it in the future. God bless you.”
Louis XVI: “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel … because you’re in no position to dictate that. We’re going to feel very good and very strong. And you’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now with us.”
Franklin: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Your Highness.”
Louis XVI: [shouting] “You’re gambling with the lives of millions. You’re gambling with another Seven Years’ War. What you’re doing is very disrespectful to France. Your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. Your commander Washington has only 2 percent support.”
Franklin: “If London conquers us, what if the British come after Normandy next?”
Louis XVI: “What if anything? What if someone sets up a guillotine? Marie Antoinette and I have been through phony witch hunts. It’s disgusting. And why do you wear that fur hat? People say you’re a tough guy. I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without France.”
Franklin: “Our people have suffered—”
Louis XVI: “Either you make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you don’t have the cards. I think we’ve had enough for today. This is going to be great for the gazettes.”
Happily, this dialogue is pretend. France continued to support Washington and contributed mightily to the US victory at Yorktown in October, 1781. That led to a peace treaty preserving American independence.
Now, let’s return to the present and the wide variety of responses from prominent Christians to Friday’s confrontation. Many were astonished. Thabiti Anyabwile: “I’ve never seen a scene like this from the Oval Office.”
Some were cheerleaders. Eric Metaxas: “We have NEVER seen anything close to the leadership we are seeing in Trump and Vance. The video of the Zelensky meeting is simply ASTONISHING. It is a gift from God to the whole world that we have this kind of leadership in our nation. God bless America!”
John Kasich was thoughtful: The “meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy was shameful. President Zelenskyy represents a nation whose citizens have sacrificed their lives and shed blood for the freedoms they cherish. He deserves respect, not humiliation.”
Maybe the meeting was a turning point. Sean Feucht rejoiced: “How does it feel to have real leaders at the @WhiteHouse again?” Some Christians in answering that question will think of Bob Dylan, who composed these words exactly 60 years ago: “How does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction home.”
Many feel the White House is no longer home. Happily, the Bible gives us a direction: Christians have citizenship in heaven. Politically, coming back to Benjamin Franklin, we have his famous answer to a woman who asked what the Constitutional Convention in 1787 had handed the American people: “a republic, if you can keep it.”
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