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Presidents get the strangest ideas when traveling overseas. In 1969, President Richard Nixon had a humble D.C. tailor design new uniforms for his ceremonial guard after visiting Europe, where royal guardsmen were dressed in outfits that looked like marching band uniforms. “The total look includes double-breasted white tunics trimmed with gold braid and gold button and stiff plastic shakos decorated with the White House crest,” wrote the New York Times’ Nan Robertson.

The White House uniforms, universally derided as clown costumes, didn’t last long. The hats were first, and by mid-1970 the entire getup vanished. The liveries didn’t go to waste, however, getting a second life as the new uniforms of the Southern Utah State College marching band.

The equally impressionable Donald Trump got his inspiration over the summer while viewing the Bastille Day parade with President Emmanuel Macron of France. Stimulated by the clanking tanks, marching troops and soaring military jets, Trump this week proposed a similar Fourth of July parade down Pennsylvania Avenue “to show our military strength.” Of the French parade, Trump said, “We’re going to have to try and top it.” His must always be the biggest.



For his reflexive critics, Trump’s plans reflect anew his authoritarian instincts. He lusts for an army to line up like tribute bearers and honor him as if he’s the Politburo chairman or a modern Il Duce. While that might be true, Trump’s idea draws on traditions that can be found in nearly every civilization, from the ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Romans to—speeding up the timeline—the modern North Koreans. In Rome, conquering commanders paraded through the streets leading their returning army, prisoners and spoils of war. Called “triumphs,” these propaganda pageants celebrated Rome’s military superiority and became so potent over time that only emperors were allowed the honor.

Maybe I’ve got Trump wrong. Maybe he’s not chasing the aura of maximum power coveted by dictators, generalissimos and Dear Leaders. Maybe he’s just nostalgic for the friendless days he spent at the New York Military Academy as a high schooler and longs for the pomp and ceremony of the school’s color guard, only bigger, and with lots of deadly weapons and admiring citizens halleluiah-ing in the background. Maybe the idea of a symbolic military invasion of downtown Washington by friendly forces on the Fourth brings out the showman in Trump. Staging one would be like playing steak-pitchman, reality TV star, campaigner, resort host, and the boss of the Miss Universe beauty pageant all at once.

Much More: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/19/donald-trump-military-parade-washington-215624

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