Donald Trump Has 'Dynamited the Institution of the Presidency' in First 2 Years, Says Presidential Historian
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Donald Trump Has 'Dynamited the Institution of the Presidency' in First 2 Years, Says Presidential Historian
Alexandra Hutzler December 28, 2018
Donald Trump has disrupted the institution of the presidency and has made his time in office an “extension of his own personality,” according to one presidential historian.
“He’s dynamited the institution of the presidency,” Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University, told the Associated Press in a report published Thursday.
“He doesn’t see himself as being part of a long litany of presidents who will hand a baton to a successor. Instead, he uses the presidency as an extension of his own personality,” Brinkley continued.
The long-term effects of Trump’s tenure for the future of the presidency, however, will likely not be realized until his successor enters the Oval Office, the historian said. Ultimately, Brinkley predicted that “no future president will model themselves” after Trump and his leadership style.
Throughout his presidency Trump has consistently stepped away from institutional convention. He has ramped up his attacks on the press, used Twitter to amplify his personal and political agenda and warned of conspiracies within his own administration.
2018 has been a particularly unpredictable year for the president, with advancements in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, Republican losses in the recent midterm elections and ethical scandals and shakeups within his administration. In Trump’s first two years as president, about 40 top officials have either left or been forced out of the administration. Four members of the president’s cabinet have left in the past two months.
President Donald Trump speaks at a military briefing during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on December 26. It was his first visit to U.S. troops deployed in a war zone since his election two years ago.
Trump has also been implicated in campaign finance violations by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen. Federal prosecutors in New York concluded that the president directed Cohen to pay off two women months before the 2016 election.
Earlier this month, the president was forced to shutter his family’s charitable foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after an investigation by New York’s attorney general found a “shocking pattern of illegality” within the organization. The investigation alleged that the foundation essentially functioned as “little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”
Trump’s outspoken criticism of the Mueller probe has been unrelenting, as the president repeatedly refers to the investigation as an unwarranted “witch hunt” fueled by “Angry Democrats.” His antagonistic tweets about Mueller and his cooperators have even been questioned as potential instances of obstruction of justice or witness tampering.
Trump’s legal troubles are expected to worsen when Democrats take over the House of Representatives this January. Democrats recorded their best midterm election cycle in decades, despite Trump’s tireless campaign efforts, flipping 40 seats to easily regain control of the House. Democratic lawmakers have discussed launching investigations into Trump’s 2016 campaign, his family business and his personal finances.
Even with his unusual leadership style, Brinkley says that Americans can't stop watching or talking about Trump.
“He is a sui generis president,” Brinkley told the Associated Press, using the Latin phrasing for the word “unique.” "Trump doesn’t know history and doesn’t model himself on any president ... but he’s all we can talk about.”
Tags
Who is online
74 visitors
We have had US presidents for 229 years.
On what possible basis does Trump believe he has the right to "dynamite" the institution of the presidency for his own aggrandizement?
Like always, we have to look at his followers, who enable this "dynamiting" with their acquiescence and fealty to him. get out of the cult so we can restore normalcy and dignity to our presidency. It's not about you.
Because so many of the presidents we have had have been ineffective. He wasn't trying to be another in a long line of presidents who make empty promises and then don't follow through. He was trying to be different. His outsider status is what got him elected. I don't think it's reasonable to complain that he's radically different from other presidents. That's what he was going for and everyone - supporters and opponents alike - all thought it would turn out that way.
If, after four years of this, we decide this was worse than the usual situation, we can vote in another in a long line of career politicians. But let's not pretend that any of us are surprised by the behavior of President Trump.
Donald Trump is a pathological liar. If that wasn't enough to disqualify him FOREVER , from the presidency, there is something seriously wrong with the portion of the American people that voted for him.
He also ran a preposterous, ridiculous and buffoonish conspiracy theory campaign against then President Barack Obama in 2011, when Trump assumed the position as the nation's head "birther". That offensive spectacle also should have permanently disqualified him for consideration for the presidency.
Where would he be without "deplorables" ?
Really? Because the American people have elected liars before and then lionized them even after their lies had been confirmed as such.
The Massive Lies Of Past Presidents Make Trump Look Honest
The 7 Biggest Liars in Presidential History
(3 of them are 20th century Democrats)
Who Were the Most Dishonest Presidents in History (and How Does Donald Trump Compare?)
Spoiler alert, Trump is #1, but Barack Obama is #2.
Of course presidents lie
Hello! It's Donald Trump . Are you just now finding out about him?
The idiotic false equivalency [Deleted,] is particularly idiotic when used to defend the Trump horror show.
[[][deleted][]]
[[][let' stick][]] to the [[][topic and not personal counterattacks.][]]
yep,
Barack and Trumpp are neck and neck when it comes to lying Lenny
and it must be true, as an angry little pepper told me !
[deleted]
[let' stick] to the [topic and not personal counterattacks.]
An argument [deleted ?] Nope, I didn't post it as an argument at all, more like a declarative statement or a simple observation. I am WAY past the point where I will actually argue that Trump is a disaster. Anyone who can't see this by now, never will.
[deleted]
[let' stick] to the [topic and not personal counterattacks.]
For Obama they list a total of 2 lies. They claim he lied about Snowden's revelations (though if he had confirmed them he would have been revealing top secret information) and the "If you like your doctor" lie. Then they claim without evidence that Obama "made false promises to justify his actions in Afghanistan and Libya" though they can't list a single actual lie he told about that.
The author of the article ranks Obama with 2 blatant lies and a handful of unsubstantiated "false promises" in second place (this was not a poll of who Americans think is most dishonest).
Then they give you the #1 lying President:
"New York Magazine reports that Donald Trump “ran the most dishonest presidential campaign in modern memory .” A historian said that Trump is running the most dishonest White House in American history . Trump has numerous conflicts of interest (despite claims to the contrary ). Plus, more of Trump’s statements than Obama’s check out as false .
In fact, Trump kept fact-checkers busy both during his campaign and after he was sworn in as president. The Washington Post reports that Trump made more than 2,000 misleading or outright-false statements during his first year in office alone ."
So 2nd place with two confirmed whoppers versus 1st place with over 2,000 confirmed whoppers. The reality is there just is no comparison. It's like comparing an employees record who missed 2 or 3 days of work in the last year versus another employee who only showed up to work 2 or 3 days in the last year. Sure, the first employee might be the second worst employee for missing work, but to mention them in the same sentence with the guy who missed hundreds of days of work would be rather dishonest and misleading.
The opinion of anyone who still supports Trump, is utterly worthless.
There is a reckoning coming, when all these preposterous Trump supporters will realize how wrong they were. Or they will achieve instant irrelevance.
It is sad to see some basically intelligent people defend the atrocity known as the Trump presidency.
Trump lies about the big things and the small things. That doesn't make him less problematic, under the theory that he lies about inconsequential things, it make him much more problematic because he lies so often it is part of his nature and it renders everything he says questionable.
One of the big issues on Newstalkers is, just how much of this nonsense are we forced to tolerate under the umbrella of "getting along".
I'm really not that interested in "getting along" with people who allow themselves to be deluded by trump.
Keith Olbermann wrote this is September of 2016. And this is only a small part of it.
The Emperor's New Clothes quality to the Trump campaign has survived these 15 months because, as we react to each outrage, our shock and revulsion have been refracted like light through a prism.
But these outrages are not separate events, not even a pattern.
They are, simply, Donald Trump.
Seen all at once, they—and he—are horrifying.
You must see them "all at once."
Thus—in brief—the story so far:
The Republican party has actually nominated for president a man who attacked the Pope .
Who attacked John McCain for being captured by the North Vietnamese.
Who attacked Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan and then juxtaposed their names with the phrase "Radical Islamic Terrorism."
Who attacked Hillary Clinton as a "bigot." Who attacked her as " brainwashed ." As " unhinged ." As " a monster ." As " the devil ." As " the most corrupt candidate ever "—showing her face on piles of hundred-dollar bills and the Star of David.
Who attacked her as someone whom " Second Amendment people " should do something about. As someone whose religion "we don't know anything about"—after he explained he had never asked God for forgiveness .
Who attacked President Obama and implied he was a traitor . Who attacked him as having been complicit in the Orlando terrorist attack. Who attacked him for having lower approval ratings than Vladimir Putin, as if Putin's could be trusted. Who attacked him as being born in another country . Who attacked him as the founder of ISIS , then said it was sarcasm , then said it wasn't sarcasm , then attacked him again as the founder of ISIS .
Who attacked Carly Fiorina for her face ; Hillary Clinton for her non-presidential " look "; Heidi Cruz for her appearance ; Megyn Kelly for having "blood coming out of her wherever"; Mika Brzezinski as " crazy and very dumb ," " neurotic ," " not very bright ."
Who attacked the women who accused Roger Ailes of harassment.
Who attacked the women who choose abortion—and said there should be punishments .
Who attacked a New York Times reporter because he had a condition that made his arms look atypical; who attacked Judge Gonzalo Curiel because he was of Mexican descent; who attacked Senator Elizabeth Warren over allegedly lying about her heritage to get into Harvard when she never went to Harvard; who attacked Senator Jeff Flake by saying he won't be re-elected this year, when he isn't up for election until 2018.
The Republican Party has actually nominated for president a man who attacked U.S. troops in Iraq and claimed they stole millions; who has attacked Ted Cruz's father and claimed he was connected to the assassination of President Kennedy; attacked Bill Clinton and claimed he was a rapist.
Who attacked Mexicans as rapists, bringing drugs and crime; who attacked African-Americans and claimed they were all living in poverty with no jobs and schools that were no good; who attacked Harrisburg, Pennsylvania , as a "war zone" and attacked the United States of America and claimed it is in a "death spiral."
The Republican Party has actually nominated for president a man who lied about opposing the war in Iraq, when there is a tape of him supporting it. A tape recorded on the first anniversary of 9/11…
Who lied about opposing the war in Iraq during a speech in which he insisted, "I will never lie to you."
Who lied about six million dollars in charitable donations to veterans’ groups from his telethon; who lied about donating his profits from The Apprentice , about charitable donations from The Celebrity Apprentice , and from " Trump the Game " to St. Jude Cancer Center .
Who lied about a plan to debate Bernie Sanders for charity.
Who lied about why he wouldn't release his taxes, because he was being audited and proved himself a liar by saying he would release his taxes if Hillary Clinton released her e-mails; who lied about how much money his father gave him or helped him get, coming out of college; who lied about sending his private jet to ferry stranded U.S. servicemen; who lied about talking to the Attorney General of Florida, who declined to investigate Trump University after she was given a campaign donation ; who lied about his business in Russia ; who lied about meeting Russian president Putin ; who lied about offering child care to his employees, when it was child care for his hotel guests; who lied about "some people" wanting a moment of silence for the murderer of five Dallas policemen; who lied about seeing thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11; who lied about 9/11 hijackers sending their wives and girlfriends home to Saudi Arabia.
Who lied about thousands of Syrian refugee terrorists being secretly admitted to this country; who lied about the Chicago police urging him to cancel a rally; who lied about the Chicago police saying they could solve crime there with " tough police tactics "; who lied about how there was no drought in California, how he never said Japan should have nuclear weapons, how he opposed the ouster of Egyptian president Mubarak , how the unemployment rate is 42 percent .
Who lied about ISIS making millions a week selling Libyan oil ; who lied about dozens of secret terrorist cases in this country; who lied that a protester who tried to rush onto his stage had "ties to ISIS"; who lied last May and again last week about refugees entering this country carrying cell phones with "ISIS flags on them" and phone plans pre-paid by ISIS!
Can you hear me now?
Well I hope you don't expect me to read it. I don't read smut.
Because it isn't on Fox News or it isn't a minister?
Who cares what an anti American traitor like Olbermann says
How is Keith Olbermann a traitor?
Everything Olbermann said is absolutely true.
The sad thing is that a per cent of the population will not/can not accept truth. And this also is true.
The spirits of Roland Freisler and Heinrich Heydrich still live.
I consider any radical leftist Constitution hater like Olbermann to be an enemy of this country
take his rant against Americans December 2016
“Those who ignore these elemental, existential facts — Democrats or Republicans — are traitors to this country and will immediately and forever after be held accountable,” he said.
Olbermann said if Trump is allowed to become president “January 20th will not be an inauguration but rather the end of the United States as an independent country.”
Olbermann went on to say that America is handing over all of its freedom to “Russian scum.”
If "Donald Trump to assume the office of president reduces the chance that we will have any future elections,” he added. “The nation and all of our freedoms hang by a thread, and the military apparatus of this country is about to be handed over to scum! Who are beholden to scum! Russian scum! As things are today, January 20th will not be an inauguration, but rather the end of the United States as an independent country. It will not be a peaceful change of power. It will be a usurpation, and the usurper has no validity, no credibility, and no authority under the Constitution.”
So, recognizing that Trump is in hock to Russia, as his son admitted, is treason?
He's not advocating for the US to be controlled by Russia, by way of Donald Trump. He's warning against it.
So far, that we know of, Trump has shown classified information obtained by Israel to Russian agents, warned Russia that we were going to conduct an airstrike in Syria, refused to enforce sanctions against Russia that were approved by Congress, and decided to remove US troops from Syria, to the benefit of Russia (among others). Olbermann was right. Trump is acting in Russia's best interests, not ours.
Ranting against Americans isn't treason. It's constitutionally protected free speech. An American acting against the US and for Russia might be, though.
You have a radical interpretation of the US Constiution that is supported by less than 10% of the people of the US and almost none of the legal scholars so you cannot logically make a sweeping claim that the people who disagree with your extremist opinions are all radical leftists.
I agree with Keith. I predict that he will be proven correct by the Mueller investigation.
You lose all credibility when you make a ludicrous statement that no Constitutional scholars agree with Originalist interpretation of the Constitution
2013 polling shows 22% lean libertarian and that view is growing
This interesting commentary from a leftist historian who hates originalism
“Thanks to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch—a self-identified “originalist”—to the Supreme Court, constitutional originalism is yet again at the forefront of American consciousness. Historians would do well to take special notice. Because while most forms of American constitutional jurisprudence have drawn on the history of the Constitution’s creation, only originalism—the theory that seeks to construe the Constitution today in accordance with its original meaning when it was first enacted—implicates the role of historical study in constitutional interpretation. Moreover, despite several assurances through the years that originalism’s death knell had sounded, the theory enjoys more champions, and more influential champions, than at any point previously.[1] Beyond the federal judiciary, leading originalists can be found on most esteemed law school faculties and in a growing network of influential constitutional law centers and think tanks. The thriving annual “Originalism Works In-Progress Conference” at the University of San Diego Law School’s Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism (which just hosted its eighth iteration) is one prominent marker of popularity and influence; the well-funded annual “Originalism Boot Camp,” which hosts aspiring law students each summer at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution is another. A new mountain of originalist scholarship and new lines of influence linking this academic work with the world of political and judicial action, meanwhile, appears every year.[2] As Gorsuch’s selection illustrates, originalism is as powerful as ever, so its relationship to history remains as urgent as ever.”
“Donald Trump’s Presidency Is the Libertarian Moment”
Olbermann is credible and correct.
Right wing is incredibly wrong...………….always.
We were discussing whether or not Trump is a liar above and beyond what we have ever seen before from a president. In spite of the ridiculousness of that question (open your eyes), I showed you an EXCERPT from an article that was written BEFORE TRump told 5000 lies AFTER he took office.
Before the election ever took place, Obermann wrote an article with a list of trump lies which at that time was just a portion of his known lies.
And the best you can say is "I don't read smut".
Why are you supporting Trump? You know damn well you don't have a leg to stand on.
That's far from my best. Life is too short to spend a single moment of it paying attention to a self-aggrandizing egomaniac like Keith Olbermann, who invariably has been fired from every job he's ever had for being a self-righteous, mean-spirited prick. I'd sooner dig my own eyes out with a spoon than read a single word that sociopath would ever write.
Oh, the irony of not wanting to hear someone so described talk about Trump.
There are many other people besides Olbermann who have catalogued Trump's lies.
You promote the absurd idea that Trump doesn't lie any more than other presidents. He lies more than all the rest of them put together.
The rules of Newstalkers prohibit anyone from describing Trumpsters in the terms they richly deserve.
Where?
In your opinion. You think I give two shits about whether or not Trump lied about the size of a crowd? Or whether or not Mexico would pay for a wall? At least he hasn't lied to me about being able to keep my doctor. That one hit pretty close to home.
Why let that stop you?
Those people who want to keep a corrupt, dishonest, immoral and ignorant individual like Trump in power in this country disgrace us all.
Wake up people he’s one of the Clinton News Network’s slimeballs.
My guess was that it was Brinkley as soon I saw the headline.
You can always count on Brinkley to toe the Democratic line and parrot their propaganda.
Trump dynamited nothing. He's just another Putin puppet.
How are the Clinton’s, Putin’s favorite puppets
funny, they haven't been charged with anything, and Putin hates Hillary, sorta like Trump, and some of you guys and gals
Apparently you're unclear as to what a "puppet" is. You see, a puppet is something one person sticks their hand up inside and then controls all their actions and makes them do and say what they want, for example, delay sanction implementation, constantly praise the ventriloquist whose hand is up their backside, leave areas the ventriloquist wants you to leave like Syria and Afghanistan. This is in comparison to an "effigy" which is what the Clintons are to Putin.
Effigy: noun - a roughly made model of a particular person, made in order to be damaged or destroyed as a protest or expression of anger.
Putin hates Clinton and built up a mountain of lies around her then sold that mountain to Americans during an election. Sadly, many Americans were gullible and bought the lies and then were stunned with the talking rhetorical Trump puppet that was on display before them and they all gasped in amazement "I can't even see Putin's lips move! Maybe the puppet is a real boy and Putin's not putting words in his mouth at all! Amazing!"...
i'm pretty sure he really has had his hand up inside
This is such a dumb complaint and we hear it all the time. What politician under investigation would not complain about the investigation? What person under investigation wouldn't complain about it? What person being investigated doesn't protest their innocence?
The media and politicians are particularly full of shit/hypocritical about this. If someone is accused, and they say "no comment," the media and opposition politicians light their hair on fire and run around declaring, "That's not a denial! His lack of an immediate denial is proof of his guilt." But if someone insists they are innocent from the beginning, those people still light their hair on fire, but now they run around saying "He's denying too much. That's a sure sign of his guilt."
Democrats love to pretend the late 1990s didn't exist so they can attack Trump while forgetting their own actions. My god, for any democrat alive during the Clinton era to complain about how an investigator is treated is rank hypocrisy.
"Throughout his presidency Trump has consistently stepped away from institutional convention."
Someone had to for a "Change" !
The Existing "Institution" was just that...………….an "Institution": The action of just instituting ……. something!
It was time "Some-of-those" things.... disappeared.
The need to cling to the way things have always been is, by definition, a conservative viewpoint. That's makes everyone who voted for Trump into liberals, I suppose. People wanted to try something new.
Not Really !
"Have Always Been"......could be just 20 years ago. And we know that isn't the case.
I don't know too many that didn't like …… "It's not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" !
That phrase is considered hateful now !
something new, and Trump.....sheesh
next time order the taco without lettuce and save our dam country from ridicule, deservedly so
Isn't that amazing? I swear that man was really a Republican.
Be honest, you want an olde tyme president. A president just like the ones our grandparents voted for. Maybe with a beard and a top hat. He could make his speeches from the back of a train.
Seriously, if you don't get that Trump was elected because he's different, then you missed the whole point of the 2016 campaign. People get frustrated and they want something different. It's why Bernie Sanders did so well. Before 2016, that guy was widely considered to be a kook. Now he's practically mainstream.
He was actually shot ...… but not on a baseball field that time.
i understand that people wanted something different.
I was not aHillary fan , and NEVER WAS.
But i knew of Trump long before any stupid apprentice show or birther bullshit.
i also witnessed his idiotic childish campaign behavior, and could not actually comprehend how he became the Gop nominee, but alas he did, and he told people what they WANTED to hear and believe, and unfortunately, with a little large helping shove from Russia, he was Putin into place as our POTUS.
.
He is an unstable lying little man, who reminds me of that emperor without clothes.
Don't you guys think, it's time to start accepting the fact, that Trump IS NOT what is best for the United States
just a thought...
Yeah, I get it, because some folk were dying in the waiting room to see a surgeon, they decided to vote out the actual surgeons and elected Larry the Cable guy who promised them all they would immediately get the treatment and care they had always wanted. Sure, Larry has no clue how to perform surgery, botched every attempt, can barely hold a scalpel and keeps scratching his dirty ass that's hanging out the back of his sagging pants, but he's who the deplorable's elected to perform their surgeries. Of course, when Larry gets thrown out or doesn't get elected to a second term, and all those dumb fucks are still in the waiting room or had already been killed off by the blatant malpractice of the cable guy they hired as a surgeon, they'll no doubt just blame the other side of the waiting room who had voted for an actual surgeon saying it was their fault they were "tricked" into voting for a "different" kind of surgeon. "You made fun of us and pointed out our lack of higher education and our reliance on religion and fantasy to get through the day, so we voted for something different, it's all your fault you damn liberals and coastal elites!"...
voted up
By a radical leftist, too.
It doesn't matter that you claim to be an actual surgeon over and over if you never get around to healing anybody.
Still better than having a shit fingered imbecile fiddling around inside of Americas open wound. There's no doubt in my mind that's what has caused such festering division. The reality is we all want good jobs, safe neighborhoods, quality educations for our children, access to affordable effective health care, access to healthy foods and protection for foreign threats. But the flesh eating disease Trump has infected us with has eaten a rift between citizens. He has used our general disagreements and amplified it, blaming his bases problems on other American citizens who simply don't share their faith or point of view on supposed biblical morality.
Gotta luv those "Tolerant" types.
Part of the reason we love President Trump is his willingness to attack these phony institutions the elite created
He's like a lump of coal in the east, and especially the west coast fanatics Stockings.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you...…… But remember us come next Christmas....won't you ?" (Smirk face)
hes like a lump
in the back
of
your shorts
the Presidency?
Keep telling yourself you are not an extremist, preacher. Yeah.
Shadow Walker
Your typical lying BS. Not the presidency which he has wonderfully defended, but the monstrous unconstitutional bureaucracies that control this country and the insidious Stalinist FBI,DOJ, DEA, and ATF which all should be disbanded (except the DOJ which should be downsized). These institutions serve only to control American and let politicians use for political power.
The Trump at Helsinki proved Olbermann correct. The Trump is a traitor.
Nonsense and typical of leftist anti American hate.
Hmmmmm, do you know how many people consider Religions and Missions phony institutions created by elitists?
Donald Trump Has 'Dynamited The Institution Of The Presidency'
What else should anyone expect from a draft dodging traitor?