American Heartland: The Shock Of Being Left Behind
In 2017, when Adam Jadhav returned to his old home town of Henry, Illinois , his research found some of the maladies described by Lenz and Chatman. Some people longed for better days gone by. Some younger men were seething because they no longer had a place in the local economy.
But in an article published recently in the Journal of Rural Studies, he described something more subtle: a quiet despair in farm country.
Not so long ago, Henry was an economic hub in central Illinois. There were healthy family farms, and industries associated with the farms Caterpillar Inc. machinery factories, tire factories. And the town was 99% white, which allowed an unchallenged racism. Jadhav was harassed because his father, the United Methodist minister, was an Indian immigrant.
In recent decades, change has swept through Henry like a prairie storm. The economy has devolved. Opportunity, wealth and people especially young people have fled to bigger cities. Shops have closed. Churches have closed. And the people left behind mourn for whats been lost.
When Donald Trump ran in 2016, Jadhav said, the slogan Make America Great Again found an audience. Its not that Trump was popular to many, Jadhav said, he seemed a horribly flawed candidate. Still, Trump spoke to their values and insecurities, and Hillary Clinton didnt.
What comes next, now that Trump has lost? Jadhav is of two minds.
Read A Brief Summary Of This Topic
Donald Trump, in full Donald John Trump, , 45th president of the United States . Trump was a real-estate developer and businessman who owned, managed, or licensed his name to several hotels, casinos, golf courses, resorts, and residential properties in the New York City area and around the world. From the 1980s Trump also lent his name to scores of retail venturesincluding branded lines of clothing, cologne, food, and furnitureand to Trump University, which offered seminars in real-estate education from 2005 to 2010. In the early 21st century his private conglomerate, the Trump Organization, comprised some 500 companies involved in a wide range of businesses, including hotels and resorts, residential properties, merchandise, and entertainment and television. Trump was the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives and the only president to be impeached twiceonce for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with the Ukraine scandal and once for incitement of insurrection in connection with the storming of the United States Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters as Congress met in joint session to ceremonially count electoral college votes from the 2020 presidential election. Both of Trumps impeachments ended in his acquittal by the U.S. Senate. Trump lost the 2020 election to former vice president Joe Biden by 306 electoral votes to 232 he lost the popular vote by more than seven million votes.
Use Of The Office Of President
Trump often sought to use the office of the presidency for his own interest. Under his leadership, the Justice Department, which is traditionally independent from the President, became highly partisan and acted in Trump’s interest.Bloomberg News reported in October 2019 that during a 2017 Oval Office meeting, Trump had asked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to pressure the Justice Department to drop a criminal investigation of Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Trump associate Rudy Giuliani. Tillerson reportedly refused.
Trump attempted to host the 2020 G7 Summit at his Doral Golf Resort, from which he could have made significant profits. Trump visited his properties 274 times during his presidency. Government officials were charged as much as $650 per night to stay at Trump’s properties.
In the lead up to the 2020 election, Trump and Postmaster GeneralLouis DeJoy, a close ally of Trump, sought to hamper the US postal service by cutting funding and services, a move which would prevent postal votes from being counted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump has fired, demoted or withdrawn numerous government officials in retaliation for actions that projected negatively on his public image, or harmed his personal or political interests, including Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.
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Presidential Campaign And 2011 Hints At Presidential Run
In 2000, Trump ran in the California and Michigan primaries for nomination as the Reform Party candidate for the 2000 United States presidential election but withdrew from the race in February 2000. A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.
In 2011, Trump speculated about running against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, making his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2011 and giving speeches in early primary states. In May 2011, he announced he would not run, and he endorsed Mitt Romney in February 2012. Trump’s presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.
Franklin Graham Says Trump ‘will Go Down In History As One Of The Great Presidents’
Evangelical leader Pastor Franklin Graham has thanked God for Donald Trump‘s four years in the White House, saying he will “go down in history as one of the great presidents.”
Graham posted a on Monday, writing that he had been asked if he was disappointed about the election but was instead “grateful to God” for the past four years.
The pastor, a Trump supporter since 2016, said the president had “protected our religious liberties,” “stood up for the lives of the unborn” and “nominated conservative judges to the Supreme Court.”
His statement came after the 538 members of the Electoral College met to cast their ballots for president and vice president, formalizing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris‘ victory.
Trump has refused to concede and continues to make unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. Over the past few weeks his campaign and Republican allies have launched dozens of lawsuits in key battleground states, but nearly all of them have failed.
Graham, one of the nation’s most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, was seen as a key voice to maintain the president’s support among white evangelicals ahead of the election last month.
After the electoral college vote on Monday, he wrote on Facebook: “People have asked if I am disappointed about the election. When I think about my answer, I have to say honestly, that I am gratefulgrateful to God that for the last four years.
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Will Donald Trump Be A Good President
John S Kiernan, Managing EditorDec 15, 2016
Every president takes his own unique path to the White House, but the ascent of President-Elect Donald J. Trump has truly been unlike anything weve seen before. Trump has gone from rich kid to real-estate mogul, from bankrupt to The Celebrity Apprentice, and from leader of the birther movement to leader of the free world. And with no previous political experience, its fair to wonder whether the Oval Office will suit him.So will President-Elect Donald Trump grab the bull by the wherever and fulfill his promise to make America great again? Or will we find ourselves worse off and wishing we could say, Youre fired? It can be difficult to put politics aside when contemplating such questions, especially so soon after such a contentious election, but our expert panel is up to the task.In search of more insight into what we can expect from at least the next four years, we asked experts in the fields of economics, finance, public policy and more to answer one simple question: Will Donald Trump be a good president? All in all, thirteen experts say no, sixteen vote yes and five are on the fence. You can check out their responses below. And if youd like to weigh in with a theory of your own, please share your thoughts in the Comments section at the bottom of the page.
Despite Drift Toward Authoritarianism Trump Voters Stay Loyal Why
Despite his authoritarian tendencies, President Donald Trumps supporters have stayed with him because of a complex interplay of economic, cultural and racial factors, resulting in a fierce, almost cult-like loyalty, said scholars at the University of California, Berkeley.
More than a month has passed since the fiercely contested U.S. presidential election, and the nations institutions are moving day-by-day toward acceptance of the outcome that made Democrat Joe Biden the winner over incumbent Republican Donald Trump. But Trump is neither conceding nor moving on and, it appears, the same is true for millions of his supporters.
The numbers, presumably, dont lie: Results certified by officials from both parties show Biden defeated Trump by more than 7 million votes. Since the polls closed, however, Trump has blitzed the nation with unproven claims that he was robbed of victory by widespread fraud, and today only 15% of his 74.1 million voters say Bidens win is legitimate.
Nevada Court Hears Of USPS Witness Obstruction, Flawed Machine Inspections, And Deceased Voters
Donald J. Trump
Some suggested that generations of creeping economic insecurity have inspired deep anger, compelling many voters in the white middle and working classes to embrace Trump, flaws and all, because he challenges the American status quo.
Adam Jadhav, Ph.D. student in geography
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‘suggestive’ Photographs Are The Reason Hillary Clinton Wears Pant Suits
Donald Trump’s presidency is now behind us. But the debate over how bad a president he was has only just begun.
The Point: Trump has long made clear that he is acutely interested in how he will be remembered. And he will not be happy with the early returns.
Russia And Related Investigations
American intelligence sources found the Russian governmentattempted to intervene in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump, and that members of Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian government officials both before and after the election. In May 2017, the Department of Justice appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate “any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation”.
During his January 2017 confirmation hearings as the attorney general nominee before the Senate, then-Senator Jeff Sessions appeared to deliberately omit two meetings he had in 2016 with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, when asked if he had meetings involving the 2016 election with Russian government officials. Sessions later amended his testimony saying he “never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign”. Following his amended statement, Sessions recused himself from any investigation regarding connections between Trump and Russia.
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Transparency Data Availability And Record Keeping
The Washington Post reported in May 2017, “a wide variety of information that until recently was provided to the public, limiting access, for instance, to disclosures about workplace violations, energy efficiency, and animal welfare abuses” had been removed or tucked away. The Obama administration had used the publication of enforcement actions taken by federal agencies against companies as a way to name and shame companies that engaged in unethical and illegal behaviors.
The Trump administration stopped the longstanding practice of logging visitors to the White House, making it difficult to tell who has visited the White House. In July 2018, CNN reported that the White House had suspended the practice of publishing public summaries of Trump’s phone calls with world leaders, bringing an end to a common exercise from previous administrations.
An Attack On The Capitol
In the weeks following the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede to Biden, declaring that he had won the election even though he and his legal team could not offer any evidence to back up his claims. On January 6, 2021, while Congress was in a joint session to count the electoral votes, a mob of violent protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent Congress from declaring victory for Biden. The mob consisted of people who believed Trumps false claims that he had won the election. Five people, including a U.S. Capitol police officer, died during the riots.
Many people believed that Trump encouraged his followers to overrun the Capitol because of remarks he had made on social media and at rallies, including one just before the attack happened. Because of that, the U.S. government moved to impeach Trump for the second time during his presidency to charge him with incitement of insurrection. He was officially impeached by the House of Representatives on January 13, 2021, this time with 10 Republicans joining Democrats to charge him. He is the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice.
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Trump Impeached Then Acquitted
Trump was impeached on December 18, 2019, on two articlesabuse of power and obstruction of justice. The impeachment charges stemmed mainly from a July 25, 2019 phone call with the newly-elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During the call, Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, vice president under Barack Obama and a Democratic hopeful for the 2020 presidential race. Trumps attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had publicly accused Biden of having former chief Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin removed from office because he was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, was on the board of the company.
An anonymous whistleblower came forward to report the call: “In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
Colossal Rebuilding Of The Military
Rebuilt the military and created the Sixth Branch, the United States Space Force.
- Completely rebuilt the United States military with over $2.2 trillion in defense spending, including $738 billion for 2020.
- Secured three pay raises for our service members and their families, including the largest raise in a decade.
- Established the Space Force, the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.
- Modernized and recapitalized our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
- Upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and by reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
- Vetoed the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act, which failed to protect our national security, disrespected the history of our veterans and military, and contradicted our efforts to put America first.
Defeated terrorists, held leaders accountable for malign actions, and bolstered peace around the world.
Addressed gaps in Americans defense-industrial base, providing much-needed updates to improve the safety of our country.
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‘putting Democracy To The Test’
Kathryn Brownell is a history professor at Purdue University, focusing on the relationships between media, politics, and popular culture, with an emphasis on the American presidency.
What’s Trump’s key legacy?
Broadly speaking: Donald Trump, and his enablers in the Republican Party and conservative media, have put American democracy to the test in an unprecedented way. As a historian who studies the intersection of media and the presidency, it is truly striking the ways in which he has convinced millions of people that his fabricated version of events is true.
What happened on 6 January at the US Capitol is a culmination of over four years during which President Trump actively advanced misinformation.
Just as Watergate and the impeachment inquiry dominated historical interpretations of Richard Nixon’s legacy for decades, I do think that this particular post-election moment will be at the forefront of historical assessments of his presidency.
What else stands out to you?
Kellyanne Conway’s first introduction of the notion of “alternative facts” just days into the Trump administration when disputing the size of the inaugural crowds between Trump and Barack Obama.
Trump harnessed the power of social media and blurred the lines between entertainment and politics in ways that allowed him to bypass critics and connect directly to his supporters in an unfiltered way.
Shaking The Foreign Policy Consensus
Donald Trump rejected the establishment consensus that the United States has the right and duty to guard international order by force.
The world contains a lot of killers, he noted soon after taking office. You think our countrys so innocent? Pundits howled in outrage. That they included champions of the war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism suggested that Trump had a point. After decades of massive and routinized killing sold as virtue, Trump at least recognized that U.S. warmaking looked like liberation principally to a small cadre in Washington.
This recognition produced a few genuine policy achievements. Doubting that U.S. military operations in Afghanistan were crucial to international stability, Trump made a deal with the Taliban to put Americas war there on a path to termination that his successor is now completing. He rightly embarked on diplomacy with North Korea, despite bungling negotiations. He did not start any new wars a low but significant bar that George W. Bush, invader of Iraq, and Barack Obama, bomber of Libya, failed to clear.
Trump stripped American power bare, shedding its cloak of piety. His successors must decide whether to dress it back up or scale it down. After Trump, the latter seems both more possible and more urgent.
Stephen Wertheim is senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy .
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