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Inscription on the Confederate Memorial at Arlington. The Confederate Memorial is a majestic memorial, the largest at the cemetery, but it’s all but ignored. Though the Confederate Memorial is on the map at Arlington, it attracts few visitors. It is the largest, most elaborate monument in the cemetery, yet the Arlington trolley tour makes a hard right near the monument without even slowing down to give tourists a glance.

Not for fame or reward
Not for place or rank
Not lured by ambition
Or goaded by necessity
But in simple obedience to duty
as they understood it
These men suffered all,
sacrificed all, dared all and died.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Monuments-and-Memorials/Confederate-Memorial

http://www.civilwarprofiles.com/dwight-d-eisenhower-in-defense-of-robert-e-lee/

August 9, 1960

Dear Dr. Scott:

Respecting your August 1 inquiry calling attention to my often expressed admiration for General Robert E. Lee, I would say, first, that we need to understand that at the time of the War between the States the issue of secession had remained unresolved for more than 70 years. Men of probity, character, public standing and unquestioned loyalty, both North and South, had disagreed over this issue as a matter of principle from the day our Constitution was adopted.

General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation. He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America; he was a poised and inspiring leader, true to the high trust reposed in him by millions of his fellow citizens; he was thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his faith in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history.

From deep conviction, I simply say this: a nation of men of Lee’s calibre would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities, including his devotion to this land as revealed in his painstaking efforts to help heal the Nation’s wounds once the bitter struggle was over, we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained.

Such are the reasons that I proudly display the picture of this great American on my office wall.

Sincerely,

Dwight D. Eisenhower