President Trump could trip up, but not for the reasons liberals think
Niall Ferguson says Trump may want to do what Reagan did for America in the 1980s, but he faces several daunting stumbling blocks: fickle voters, frosty ties with his fellow Republicans, and a China on the rise
But Trump’s supporters know just what he means: Make It the 1980s Again. For those in the older age groups who broke decisively for the Republicans in November, this is one last chance to turn the clock back to when they and their country were in their prime.
Watch: Donald Trump’s inaugural address
World enters the era of Trump as he vows to end ‘American carnage’
Both men painted a picture of economic stagnation. Where Trump spoke of “rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape”, Reagan lamented “idle industries … unemployment, human misery, and personal indignity”. Both made clear that the time was up for malaise. “This American carnage stops right here, and stops right now,” said Trump. “Let there be no misunderstanding,” declared Reagan. “We are going to begin to act, beginning today.”
The Left despised Reagan as they despise Trump
Both men put some of the blame for the nation’s troubles on the federal government. “Politicians prospered but the jobs left and the factories closed,” said Trump. Thirty-six years ago, Reagan’s most famous line was: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
And both men identified themselves as populists. “What matters is not which party controls the government,” said Trump on Friday, “but whether government is controlled by the people.” Reagan used similar language: “Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected … ‘We the people’.”
Likening Trump to Reagan is a dangerous thing to do. But my point is not that they are the same, as will become clear. It’s just that their circumstances are similar. The Left despised Reagan as they despise Trump. Both men had become famous on the screen before entering politics. Both succeeded a Democrat who was seen as weak on foreign policy.
It’s not accidental that Trump has talked about a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, perhaps in Iceland. Reykjavik was the scene of the most famous of the meetings between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1986.
Watch: Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” ad
