In a controversial move, Donald Trump’s Pentagon is overseeing the return of a prominent portrait of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to the library at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The painting, which is a large canvas that shows Lee with an enslaved man who is holding his horse, was taken down from the institution’s library after a 2020 law was passed. That law was aimed at getting rid of tributes to the Confederacy from all military installations.
The law was created after a time of widespread national protests that were spurred by the death of George Floyd. A commission was then set up to carry out the law, and it was given the job of reviewing and removing Confederate symbols from military sites. According to the New York Times, in 2022, the commission told West Point to take down all such items, which led to the painting being put into storage.
