Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of an amendment to H.R. 4301 which would authorize and request the President to issue posthumous commissions in the grade of second lieutenant in the U.S. Army for Johnson Chesnut Whittaker and James Webster Smith, both of South Carolina. Born a slave in 1858 in Camden, SC, Whittaker was appointed to West Point in 1876 by Representative S.L. Hodge of South Carolina. Whittaker was among the first African Americans to enter the academy. As the only African-American cadet, he was ostracized by his peers and later flogged by them. In April 1880, Cadet Whittaker failed to show up for reveille and was later found in his room on the floor, bloodied and bruised, with his feet tied to his bed. His ears had been slashed, and a mirror was smashed over his head. The incident was looked upon as a ruse by West Point authorities who claimed that Whittaker had inflicted himself with the bruises, and therefore should be dismissed from the academy.”