In a previous article I compared the 2024 election to the Battle of Gettysburg and said that I was cautiously optimistic that developments after the election would result in a rearrangement of American institutions (governmental and otherwise) so that they would more closely resemble those of the constitutional republic envisioned by the Founders. If this occurs it will be a Second American Revolution[1]. But this revolution is not going to occur without a determined opposition from the institutions targeted for reform or elimination. It is also not going to succeed without the visible and determined support of the grassroots who elected Donald Trump and which made this moment possible in the first place. The most basic reason for the necessary involvement of the grassroots is that the original constitutional order in its Jeffersonian development is dependent on active grassroots participation. Civic involvement by ordinary citizens in the acts of political life is in itself a restoration of the constitutional order.
One critical place where the strategies and tactics of the establishment opposition are brought to light and the grassroots effort to advance the revolution is organized and focused is the War Room of Stephen K. Bannon.2 Aside from Trump himself Bannon may be the most fervant and dedicated proponent of the MAGA movement which is the heart of Trump’s support. This article focuses on Bannon’s promotion of the MAGA movement and his vision of Donald Trump’s electoral victory as the seminal event of a Second American Revolution and poses the question of whether Southerners desirous of an independent and unencumbered South in line with the Southern tradition can embrace Bannon’s vision (with one major reservation).[2]
I will first provide some background on Bannon as a Southerner and a key strategist of the MAGA movement and the Trump electoral victories. Bannon is now focused on Trump’s strategic objective of dismantling the Administrative/Deep State (henceforth ADS). Then I examine Bannon’s favorable view of Lincoln and why he might, as a pronounced Southerner, have this view. Next I discuss why we might disregard some aspects of Bannon’s view of Lincoln but accept others. Finally I suggest why Southerners devoted to the Southern tradition would want to join the Bannon team to advance the Trump agenda.
Stephen K. Bannon (b. 1953) is a Southerner born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Bannon had a working class upbringing and has a wide and deep background, first as a naval officer, and then in finance, media, and politics. He is a committed Roman Catholic. Bannon is widely and deeply read and very knowledgeable about and personally associated with many of the populist political players around the world. His own turning point came with the 2008 financial crisis. Seeing the little guys (including his own father) lose their life savings while the big guys, who caused the crisis in the first place, were bailed out with millions, Bannon turned his interest in politics in a new direction. He became profoundly anti-establishment and began looking for a champion who could turn the tables on the elites. First Michelle Bachmann, then Sarah Palin, he finally settled on Donald J. Trump. Bannon was chief strategist for Trump’s 2016 campaign and Trump would probably not have been elected without his help. After serving in the Trump administration Bannon started War Room in 2019. From that perch he works tirelessly in pursuit of his agenda of a worldwide populist takeover of the organs of power. Bannon´s strategic goal is to dismantle the ADS, the cancerous growth now eating away at what remains of the Founder’s constitutional republic.[3] Bannon sees this goal as the core of Trump’s plan to restore the constitutional republic, the Second American Revolution.
War Room is a unique program, providing information and direction for engagement with the political world. Bannon refers to his large audience as the “posse”. A master communicator and strategist, he understands information warfare in the age of mass media and now alternative media. Bannon’s intuition and knowledge of the political battle field is deep and perhaps unsurpassed in my estimation.
The most significant difference I have with Bannon (and it is a major one) is the esteem he expresses for Lincoln and his generals. Though Bannon speaks quite proudly of being a Southerner (and a Virginian), he claims to have the same esteem for Lincoln as he does for George Washington. In fact he often says that the three greatest figures in American history are Washington, Lincoln, and Trump. As someone commited to the Southern tradition developed by the Agrarians, Richard Weaver,
M.E. Bradford, and the many scholars of the Abbeville Institute, I cannot endorse this view. The
Lincoln Revolution was not a “new birth of freedom” but ultimately its opposite. As a native of Richmond, Virginia, and from a time when Robert E. Lee, for example, was still widely revered, how did Bannon come to have such an admiration for Lincoln? I cannot definitively answer this question.
But it recently occurred to me that something like the following might be the case. Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, when he did, it is hard to believe that Bannon did not breathe the air of the “Lost Cause”. Bannon is deeply patriotic but he does not traffic in lost causes. For him it is all about winning. In his view, if you don’t win it won’t matter how grand or noble your objectives are; they will come to naught. Witness the recent removal of the monuments to Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond as well as in Charlottesville, Virginia. It doesn’t matter how noble was Lee’s character, how distinguished his lineage, how magnificent his courage, how artful his leadership, or how great his sacrifice. His image has been removed from the public space because his side lost the war, and those exploiting that victory are using it to erase the Confederate legacy from the generally accepted narrative of American history. If you want your heroes to be remembered and honored you have to win.
Bannon extols the Washingtonian vision. Much less often does he speak of a Lincolnian vision. He does refer to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation favorably[4] and Bannon’s populism aspires to a multi-racial and multi-ethnic mix.[5] Other than that his esteem for Lincoln and his generals may simply be because they won. After Gettysburg Lincoln brought in Grant and together they remorselessly drove their advantage to victory. Bannon’s goal is apparently to do the same now with Trump’s victory.
Bannon perhaps sees himself as Grant to Trump’s Lincoln, though for a better cause. The posse are his troops. Bannon is completely committed to influencing and advancing a Trump agenda which Bannon sees as restoring the United States to its founding as a constitutional republic. This appears to be aligned with the goal of the Southern tradition in its political aspect. To put it mildly, the ADS (and its affiliated institutions) is no friend of the Southern tradition. It is the enemy of that tradition in fact. It is deeply embedded in the effort to discredit the Southern tradition as racist and treasonous, to remove southern symbols and distort southern history (e.g., the 1619 Project and the move to rename military bases named after Southern generals).
Another reason for Bannon’s strategy may be rhetorical. Given the success of the elites in rebranding the Southern tradition as racist and treasonous, if Bannon attempted to use the Confederacy as his rhetorical cudgel he would be defeated right out of the gate.[6] Moreover, many Americans have succumbed to the “Lincoln Myth” and are susceptible to manipulations based on that myth. Bannon may see it as a nonstarter to swim against that tide.
Trump is the spearhead of a movement (MAGA for short) that transcends him (though he is certainly the catalyst and prime mover of the movement) and which Bannon had envisioned even before the emergence of Trump. Other than Trump himself Bannon may be the most important advocate of the populist movement. The MAGA goal in Bannon’s view should be to eliminate the ADS. In this respect proponents of MAGA that do not explicitly advocate for the Southern tradition (or even seem to be opposed to it), such as Bannon, can be seen as allies under the principle that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Let me close by deferring to a great Southerner of the modern era, Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary coach at the University of Alabama, who famously said “Winning isn’t everything but it beats anything that comes in second.” Bryant grew up in the poverty bequeathed to the South by the “Civil War” and he aspired to escape that poverty. His path was through football. Bryant’s general strategy as a coach was to wear down the opponent for three quarters and then crush him in the fourth quarter[7]. If the Second American Revolution were a football game, where would we be in the game and what would be the score? This is my take:
1st QTR (2016 campaign) Trump beats both party establishments: MAGA 7 Elites 0;
2nd QTR (Trump first term+2020 campaign) Trump has a relatively successful term but the establishment shackles him with investigations, impeachments, the events of 2020, finally defeating him with election manipulations culminated by January 6: MAGA 10 Elites 21 (halftime);
3rd QTR (Biden term+2024 campaign) Biden term is a deeply unpopular disaster and Trump again triumphs over everything used to keep him from running: MAGA 24 Elites 21;
4th QTR (Trump second term+2028 campaign): the fourth quarter is just beginning.[8]
Bannon (who also likes football analogies) and Trump are using the Bryant playbook. The current MAGA campaign is in the fourth quarter and the establishment, though still with significant strength, is on the ropes, bruised and demoralized. Steve Bannon’s War Room provides a place to watch the game unfold, from a field commander’s view, as the Second American Revolution advances (this video is vintage Bannon[9]). Southerners devoted to the Southern tradition have a big stake in the outcome (such as the importance and role of the states versus the ADS) and an opportunity to weigh in on the final form of the potential victory. Like our Confederate forebears it is up to each of us to decide if and how we want to join the battle. When the war is over and, with good fortune won, there will be a cleaner field on which to debate historical truth.
***********************************
[1] Some have referred to the mischief that Lincoln wrought in the 1860s as the “Second American Revolution”. This is a misnomer. It had nothing “American” about it. It was more akin to the French Revolution than the American Revolution (which was not actually a revolution in the modern sense). So I refer to it as the “Lincoln Revolution” (which was a revolution in that same sense). This Second American Revolution would in fact be a revolution (or restoration) overturning the regime ultimately established by the Lincoln Revolution. For more on the Lincoln Revolution see the work of Willmoore Kendall, M.E. Bradford, Don Livingston, Clyde Wilson and Tom DiLorenzo. website (https://warroom.org/) and streaming (available in multiple venues, e.g., Rumble, Real America’s Voice)
[2] The South has obviously been the area of greatest support for the Trump MAGA movement during the entirety of that movement’s existence.
[3] This really is the nexus of the problem. The ADS is where all of the extra-constitutional powers of the United States government have come to reside. Of course, while nominally part of the executive branch (for the most part) the ADS is also supported by the actions of the other two branches. It has its ultimate origins in the Lincoln Revolution. Let me add that although Bannon approaches this as warfare, he sees war as multi-dimensional, economic, informational, political, and only ultimately kinetic. It is our hope that the war never reaches the kinetic phase although the early stages of a worldwide kinetic war may be happening now if it is not stopped.
[4] Apparently endorsing the naive view that Lincoln’s “emancipation” was simply about freeing the slaves. Bannon has also recently compared the many southerners who lived in Washington, DC in the period preceding the “Civil War” to the swamp creatures currently there who can be counted on to resist the incoming administration.
[5] For Bannon the heart of the American republic is its citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity. This important and praiseworthy goal is completely independent of Lincolnism. Another interesting question is the relation of “populism” to the Southern tradition. Consider the southern populist movements of the late nineteenth century, the Depression era, and George Wallace.
[6] Many of us have had firsthand experience of this phenomenon.
[7] Nick Saban used essentially the same approach later at Alabama with even greater success.
[8] For the southern mind, this is not to trivialize events. I once saw a print in a BBQ joint in Anniston, Alabama that had drawings of all 12 football stadiums (at the time) for SEC schools. The print was entitled “SEC Battlefields”. A meaningful date for the Second American Revolution will be July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps the renascence of the South onto the national scene also began 100 years prior to 2026 when on January 1, 1926 Alabama defeated Washington 20-19 in the Rose Bowl, shocking the nation. I’ll Take My Stand by Twelve Southerners appeared four years later.
[9] This is a speech that Bannon gave shortly after the November 5 election. The Lincoln rhetoric is only there in the first five minutes. His reference to his federal prison sentence is the four months he served from July through October of this year in a federal prison for “contempt of Congress” for refusing to testify before the illegitimately constituted House J6 committee.
“ It doesn’t matter how noble was Lee’s character, how distinguished his lineage, how magnificent his courage, how artful his leadership, or how great his sacrifice. His image has been removed from the public space because his side lost the war, and those exploiting that victory are using it to erase the Confederate legacy from the generally accepted narrative of American history. If you want your heroes to be remembered and honored you have to win.”
You may well be right in your thinking. But there was once a man who “lost” his case and was executed between two criminals on a cross. Both the “man” and the cross made pretty amazing comebacks.
Lee and “his side” may not be God, but they have some dang good angels in butternut gray in their regiment.
Bannon is welcome to the fight, but he better not get in front of my rifle sights, because I’m going to keep on firing.
I did enjoy your article.
I still watch Bannon’s WarRoom frequently. I agree with a much of what he says and thinks. However, I cringe every time he opens his mouth about “Saint Honest Abe”. The man is clueless about his knowledge or better lack of knowledge about the history of the War Between the States. Equally appalling is that he hails from Richmond, Virginia. I used to have the same reaction to Rush Limbaugh for the same reason. I finally had to stop listening to him when he repeatedly started bad-mouthing southerner listeners and the south in general.
“In fact he often says that the three greatest figures in American history are Washington, Lincoln, and Trump. As someone committed to the Southern tradition developed by the Agrarians, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, and the many scholars of the Abbeville Institute, I cannot endorse this view.”
I’m with you Mr. Goodloe, I cannot endorse Bannon’s views on American history. As a Southern, I do not have favorable views towards Lincoln.
there is some odd brain shear or ignore-ance with so many that hit airwaves or streaming on union piety, lincoln virtue and mystical Union above all. 60 percent makes sense and the rest you have to ignore and try not to bite your own lip. invasion settled a legal issue like rape determines virtue…..it sounds insane to me at this point.
A really interesting article Mr. Goodloe. As a Southerner of Bannon’s generation but a little older than he, I find his high opinion of Lincoln disconcerting. We Southerners of that era did not receive the Lincoln hard sell as they do on PA – based on testimony of Pennsylvanians. My experience in public education in the South of those years was the coverage of Lincoln was essentially neutral. Not pro, but not con either. It was later due to reading history on my own time and majoring in history in college where I learned how to research and verify history that I found out just how odious Lincoln really was. Bannon need not bring Lincoln into the current political struggle at all. If he wants to draw on a historical figure he could use Partick Henry. Even Yanks quote Henry’s famous Liberty of Death speech with much enthusiasm. Bringing Lincoln up at all and praising him makes Bannon suspect for me. I will consider Bannon’s views through a jaundiced lens from now on. Thanks for the article. I enjoyed it and found it very informative.
A very interesting piece that addresses questions all lovers of the Southern tradition must wrestle with.
I’m fine with Bannon. I cringe a little when he extolls Lincoln, but besides being entertaining he’s a true believer. I’ve yet to hear him denigrate Confederate soldiers and only by implication, the effort. To be sure, he’ll accomplish nothing by focusing on our lost effort. Traditional Confederate history has no part in policy making.
I wonder how much Bannon’s admiration is for Lincoln’s determined resolve in getting what he wanted, subjugation, versus any public policy or humanitarian achievement. The former has to be admitted by anyone, here or there, then and now. The very things Bannon leads the War Room against, “aggression abroad” and legal despotism at home, has it’s model and to a large degree it’s founding from Lincoln’s administration. The thing Bannon pounds home every episode, small government – states’ rights – are very much a Confederate thing.
There is something about taking a history lesson from Steve Bannon that seems absolutely preposterous.
Thank you all for your comments on my article. First let me respond to Mr. Blankenship who responded to my previous article comparing the 2024 election to the Battle of Gettysburg. I apologize for not responding directly but frankly at the time I was not aware that there was a comment section for these posts and I did not find his comment until rather late for a timely response. Mr. Blankenship said that he thought a better analogy was D-Day. I don’t disagree that there is relevance to D-Day but Gettysburg is a reference in a completely American context and as I think we are in a second “Civil War” the Gettysburg analogy is more germane.
Now let me respond to Mr. Yarbrough. The sacrifice of Our Savior is not immaterial to this contest and the means used to engage it. However, I think the sacrifice of Jesus is a rather special case although we should use it as a model of course. Nevertheless, Jesus was likely engaged in some battles that we only imperfectly understand to this day so we have to take a more limited view. It did occur to me that the question of what means are morally permissible when the stakes are so high is a vital one. But there is only so much space available for these posts so I could not address that. But it is an important question. Lee himself faced this question when he laid down his arms. I certainly think there are limits to what one may do when “winning means everything” but that doesn’t mean you should not exert every acceptable effort to attain the goal. And we certainly should always honor the sacrifice of our forebears even if the monuments to them are removed.
I suggested that Bannon might consider himself Grant to Trump’s Lincoln. Of course that is just speculation on my part. Nevertheless, we could look at it another way as well. We could look at Bannon as Longstreet to our Lee (who we are trying to redeem into the public realm with all our other Confederate forebears). I am not an expert on matters of military strategy and tactics but my understanding of Lee’s approach at the high water mark of the Confederacy (2nd Manassas and Chancellorsville) was that Lee would use Longstreet to grapple with and stand up the enemy and then at the appropriate time Jackson would hit them from the flank with devastating effect. So we could view this current contest in the same way. The current MAGA assault led by Bannon and others is the first phase. Bannon’s goal and the goal of the Southern tradition are ostensibly the same: the restoration of the original constitutional republic (or the closest thing we can get to it after 250 years of historical and cultural change). The goal of our Confederate forebears was the preservation of the same. When the first phase of the war is over (destruction of the ADS or Longstreet’s task) the Southern tradition needs to be ready to weigh in on the form of what will replace it. This will be the Jackson phase and we need to prepare for it. I myself will be trying to articulate this in the months to come. I hope that others will also be on the ready.
Thank you again for your comments in response to my article. It is heartening to me to sense your passion for what is at hand and your awareness of what is at stake. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted by things that could deter us even though they are not trivial matters.
“I hope that others will also be on the ready.”
Personally, I am locked and loaded. Praise the Lord!
I am encouraged by what I found here. Since I only recently stumbled onto this site, I am quite uninformed as to the general positions of the folks that may regularly follow these posts. At this time I am quite sure that I agree with the bulk of what I read here and what I think is implied. This leads me to ask, among the people that frequent this site, is there knowledge of and support for the “Convention of States Project”? I currently perceive that COS seems to be a significant organized effort to regain the values and liberty that so many of our forefathers fought and died for and may be worth our support.
Just wondering.
If you are still out there Johnny, I have misgivings about a convention states. Admittedly I have not followed the effort closely. It sounds good on paper to me, but what is there to prevent lefties and RINOs from attending and subverting the whole process?
I’m not a fan of Bannon or his Lincolnian nationalism. I don’t think he is the “spearhead” nor do I see him as a champion of the southern Tradition.