If you ask people who William McKinley was, most of them will just shrug.
McKinley was president at the turn of the 20th century. Though little remembered, he was one of the most consequential presidents ever. He was also the third president to be assassinated. He has a VIP admirer here in the early 21st century. That’s Donald Trump.
Trump has a single four-year term in office to accomplish epic change. But so did McKinley. Well, actually, his presidency was a term and nine months. He was killed in September 1901.
McKinley’s election in 1896 reinvigorated the flagging Republican majority. That majority grew out of Lincoln’s 1860 election and the subsequent civil war. Trump’s mission isn’t to reinvigorate an existing majority. No, no… His mission is to break the gridlock that has bedeviled politics throughout the first decades of this century. He means to solidify a Republican majority grounded on America First principles.
Breaking the gridlock began last November. Working-class and middle-income voters backed Trump. He’s embarking on a huge national course correction. His success or failure over the next four years will decide the nation’s fate. If Trump fails, the nation lapses back into the mire of the last quarter of a century — or even worse.
Twenty-five years of unremarkable presidents (including sly Barack Obama) and gridlock culminated in Joe Biden, a dementia patient who was a tool of cynical elites (raise your hand, Barack). Historically, Biden’s administration bottom-dwells along with Jimmy Carter’s and James Buchanan’s presidencies. Just cleaning up the mess left behind by Puppet Joe is challenging enough.
McKinley’s term was remarkable in that he ushered the U.S. onto the world stage. The U.S. began flexing its muscles globally. McKinley annexed Hawaii. That has benefitted American vacationers ever since — oh, and, yes, it proved to have strategic importance. Hawaii was critical to U.S. success in the war with Japan. It remains critical today in relationship to the PRC and Asia Pacific.
McKinley’s presidency hinged on his campaign theme during the 1896 election. He promised voters a “full dinner pail.” He delivered. He erected tariffs that protected domestic markets. He signed into law the gold standard, to the distress of William Jennings Bryan, who was a “free silver” champ. Gold proved a boon to finance and the economy.
Trump has his own version of a full dinner pail. Yes, tariffs are part of it. Her doesn’t intend to build unbreachable walls to trade and foreign investment. What he aims for is fair trade, along with — wait for it — common sense protections. For the better part of this century working- and middle-class Americans have seen wages and living standards deteriorate.
In the nation’s history, no majority coalition has endured without the backing of the Great Middle. From farmers and tradesmen to industrial workers and middle managers to, today, information-age workers and blue-collar folk, a lasting GOP majority happens only with America’s broad middle as the base.
master campaign and political operator — grasped was that the burgeoning industrial age required new and better responses. Trump faces similar challenges. He’s harnessed ubersuccessful entrepreneur Elon Musk — Vivek Ramaswamy is moving on, per reports — to dramatically revamp the federal government.
The rapid development of AI and a host of other society-altering changes require a helluva lot of better policies and governance. Uncle Sam needs to be leaner, meaner, and purged of as many corrupt and incompetent players as possible. Accomplishing that is no small feat. Musk is unfazed. DOGE — the informal Department of Government Efficiency, which is the brainchild of Musk and Ramaswamy, is Trump’s tool.
Of course, D.C. lifers like things just the way they are, thank you.
The Washington Examiner reports, January 13:
According to a new survey shared with Secrets, they not only dislike President-elect Donald Trump, but they are planning to resist his efforts to reform and drain the “swamp.”
The Examiner continues:
Some 80% of government managers who voted for Harris told the survey for Scott Rasmussen’s Napolitan Institute and RMG Research that they would resist Trump when his team takes office on Jan. 20, a week from Monday.
One word for that collection of D.C. backstabbers and passive-aggressive paper-pushers: “Nuts,” as General Anthony McAuliffe said to the Germans. Trump wants a big fight. He wants historic change.
Some commentators have remarked that Trump being cheated out of reelection in 2020 was providential. That seems right. Four years of Biden’s handlers mucking things up was a gift. It provided a stark contrast with Trump’s tenure. You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it. President Trump even made gains in blue states. Be scared Democrats, very scared.
Four needless years of high costs, a border ripped opened, and metastasizing crime — all thanks to congressional, big city, and blue state Democrats — put the hurt on millions of Americans, regardless race, creed, color, and party preference. A Trump-built GOP majority will reflect demographic changes among the Great Middle.
So-called progressives have an unsurprisingly unfavorable view of McKinley. Chris Lehmann at The Nation thinks Trump admires McKinley for a lot of cliché bad reasons.
Trump, claims Lehmann, regards the presidency “as a helpmeet to private business interests.” He slammed McKinley falsely for the same thing.
Never mind that Democrats began crawling into bed with corporate and big tech poohbahs when Barack Obama occupied the White House. Whose presidential campaign raised a billion dollars — yet still ended with a debt? Most of Kamala Harris’ cash wasn’t raised from moms and pops. By contrast, Trump’s campaign raised about $400 million.
Trump’s America First principles favor U.S. business, with an emphasis on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and independent contractors (a growing cohort). Tariffs, as mentioned, are a means of leveling the playing field. Why keep giving legs up to China, Mexico, and Germany? Unleashing the oil and gas sectors will lower energy costs. That’ll have a strong ripple effect throughout the economy, helping cut grocery, gas, and utility costs.
Trump, claims Lehmann, is an imperialist in McKinley’s mold. Yes, McKinley did usher in America’s role on the world stage. He annexed Hawaii. Hawaii’s acquisition proved pivotal in defeating Japan in the Pacific war. The Spanish American War snagged Cuba and the Philippines.
But Trump is no imperialist. He’s really calling for a revival of the Monroe Doctrine. Acquiring Greenland would greatly benefit national security. The Panama Canal is critical to U.S. commercial and naval transport. Trump will not allow the Canal to fall under PRC control. Canada as the 51st state was Trump’s way of belittling odious Justin Trudeau out of office. Trade imbalances favoring Canada need to be redressed.
Democrats are now the party of neocons, the military-industrial complex, forever wars, and military occupations that are fobbed off as democracy building. Democrats have morphed into the party of big government, big business, big labor, big education, big media, and big nonprofits. What does that add up to? How does big tyranny sound?
McKinley delivered for the workingman and elevated the U.S. to global power status. His presidency was an outsized success. He won so much that GOP dominance was assured for a generation. Donald Trump plans to do the same thing today.
J. Robert Smith can be found at X. His handle is @JRobertSmith1. At Gab, @JRobertSmith. He blogs occasionally at Flyover.
Image: AT via Magic Studio
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