The Legacy of Donald Trump

On Election Night, there was a moment where it dawned on me that Donald Trump might win again.  This, honestly, had only been something I'd considered in theory (not in reality) while writing predictions articles.  The Democrats had virtually everything going in their favor.  The polls had been uniformly good for the Democrats, their fundraising apparatus was marvelous, and Biden/Harris had run a pitch-perfect campaign.  But between the moments when Florida was clearly going to go for Trump & Arizona didn't feel on the table anymore for the president (though I'm writing this article on Sunday, so if he's regained the lead there, which is possible, keep in mind that this is more about hope than about end results) when it dawned on me that Donald Trump might win a second term.

Today, as we close out our conversations about the initial round of 2020 elections (we'll surely devote at least one more article to the Georgia runoffs in the future), I think it's appropriate to reflect on Donald Trump & his legacy as one of only 45 individuals to ascend to the presidency.  Trump's era, for millions of America, will be defined by repeated moments of dread even if for others it was one of elation, one where the freedom from common decency could be escaped without retribution.  A moment where "political correctness" could be abandoned in favor of their baser instincts.

Looking at the Trump presidency, there are very few moments during his presidency that will be lasting tangible legacies.  I was texting with a few people earlier this week about Trump & if he'll have a presidential library (something every president since Herbert Hoover has had).  Trump is a man of immeasurable ego, so a museum devoted to him doesn't seem out-of-the-question, though he doesn't have the intellectual curiosity (or the fundraising discipline) of some of his predecessors, so it's arguable whether he'd want to invest time into such an endeavor.  It's one of several aspects of his post-presidency I expect to be in question, as most former presidents retire from partisan politics in a major way, especially in staying away from criticizing their successors (something Trump won't be capable of), and I'd imagine he won't be afforded the same level of respect that former presidents usually give to each other in a very exclusive club of the world's (former) most powerful leaders.

But if Trump does have a presidential library, what will it talk about?  His most important legacy is the enormous changes he made to the judiciary, the central goal of his presidency, plus his meetings with Kim Jong-Un in North Korea, and his movement of the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.  Otherwise, there's nothing else that you would normally expect note for a presidential library, and considering the legal issues that Trump, his family, and key members of his administration will have to fend off for much of his post-presidency, it's possible that even his most-devoted donors will want to move on (taking the judicial appointments as their prize).

But I think the true lasting legacy of Trump's presidency is fear.  Trump was the most serious threat to American democracy since World War II, possibly since the Civil War.  He displayed autocratic tendencies with repeated, constant lies to the American people, oftentimes risking the public's safety to try and falsely shape a narrative.  He willingly worked with foreign governments in hopes of taking down his political allies, profited off of the government to the gain of his own businesses, and used the government in hopes of winning his election (specifically with his moves to disable the US Postal Service).  He also incited violence against communities of color, emboldened fascist & racist organizations like the Proud Boys & QAnon, and showed the Republican Party for what it has become-an organization that will look the other way when a man tries to destroy democracy & the lives of millions of Americans...as long as it means they win their elections, get tax cuts, and can stack the judiciary.

Trump's legacy will be impossible to know for years to come, as he became entwined in the Republican Party in a way that no leader has since Ronald Reagan, and it will be difficult to know for a few years whether or not the GOP escapes his shadow, or what their combined legacy will be.  His legacy is of a man who aspired to be a dictator, and a party that seemed ready to let him, but was too foolish & narcissistic to ever achieve such a position for long.  The lesson of Trump, one that we'll know if we learned in the coming years will be-did we recognize that we nearly escaped destruction here, and work to correct that in the future by rooting out future Trump-like figures (surely ones that are more competent), or in four years do we assume that Trump was the worst of it, and fall back into the same patterns, eventually to our own peril?  History is not for the impatient, but it will eventually answer this question.  And unlike everything within the Trump presidency, it will be rooted in cold reality.