Naval gains do not rehabilitate Tillman

How should Tillman's racism affect judgments about the counterfactual's naval gains?

Useful naval outcomes would not excuse his racism or change the patronage and reelection motives behind his policies.

The scenario can yield more cruisers, jobs, and naval capacity without making the politician behind it admirable. Harmful people can sometimes produce useful outcomes for bad reasons, just as well-intentioned people can cause damage. Tillman's support for naval construction remained tied chiefly to South Carolina patronage and his own reelection rather than disinterested reform. Counterfactual analysis should therefore separate the value of an institutional outcome from a moral judgment on the actor who caused it.