A few days ago a diary was published here titled: “Dear F*cking Lunatic: An Open Letter To Donald Trump. Owing to the nature of this community, it was fairly well received, but you know I can’t help but thinking that Donald took a pass on reading that letter. As such, I figured I’d write a letter on a topic which seems to interest him a great deal, how he compares to his predecessor, President Barack Obama. Maybe if I write it in a polite manner, throwing in some praise, he’ll actually read it. Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot. Whadduya think?
So, first the praise. Donald Trump, perhaps not a family man in the conventional sense, does have an impressive family, five children, a number of grandchildren (shared with his first wife), and a very nice-looking wife. He attended an Ivy League school, and he achieved a high level of fame as a bon de vivant. There are also impressive buildings in the U.S. and in many parts the world with his name on them, and he starred in a highly-rated reality TV show. He went on to achieve the highest office in the Land, and has millions and millions of dedicated followers.
Barack Obama has a beautiful family as well, and in contrast to Trump, he is more of a traditional family man. Both are the authors of best-selling books, though Trump had a ghost writer (Tony Schwartz) for his. Obama doesn’t have his name on so many buildings, maybe just some schools and such for now. Obama had no hit reality TV show, but he did win the Nobel Peace prize.
And now to delve into the heart of the matter in the form of my more polite letter to the current P(g)OTUS:
Dear Mr. Trump,
Greetings fellow American and native New Yorker! In this letter I seek to help you in your ongoing interest in comparing yourself with your predecessor, Barack Obama.
I suppose the best place to start is with historical rankings. A recent consensus of historians puts Obama at #12 out 45. Myself, I’d rank him ahead of LBJ because of the Vietnam War, Woodrow Wilson because he was an overt racist, and Ronald Reagan, who I see as the most overrated president on that list, so I have him at #9, but that’s just me.
As for your ranking, well it’s just too early for the historians to say officially. The best I can offer is a recent Vanity Fair article by six scholars of the presidency—A. Scott Berg, Robert Dallek, Jon Meacham, Edmund Morris, Stacy Schiff, and Garry Wills—putting the current occupant of the Oval Office (you) into perspective. Suffice it to say that it isn’t the best light they cast you in. I’ll give you a sampling by Mr. Wills:
“What did we expect when we let a man of dicey business dealings enter the White House without revealing his tax returns? How could we? People who have crawled to him are feeling the sickness of shame. Many do not want to work for him. He has a government of empty offices. Formerly reputable Republicans are wearying of the strange defenses they have felt bound to invent for him. Marches against him must increase in size and frequency. More people must resign from office on principle. More people must explain why they refused his offers of government positions. He degrades women. He degrades races and religions. He degrades us. The nation needs purification. May it come before it is too late.”
Ouch.
Here’s another one by Ms. Schiff:
“Having won a victory “the likes of which the world has never seen before,” Donald Trump seems to believe himself exempt from history. He may prefer to skip, snarl at, scorn, and scramble the past, to occupy a sanitized present, scrubbed of context and consequence. You only get to hold the truth hostage for so long, however. After a while it turns out that McCarthy was wrong about those 205 State Department-infiltrating Communists, that Johnson invented the “unprovoked attack” in the Gulf of Tonkin, that Richard Nixon was a crook, and that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were as real as the Gloucester Frenchmen. Like the rest of us, facts tend to look more like themselves as they age. That truth is lost on our president, borne back ceaselessly to himself. There is a catch, though, and—for some of us—a consolation. One day, this cruel, reckless man will also be history.”
Sorry.
And one more by Mr. Meacham:
“Unfortunately, just about everything in terms of American and global history seems new to Trump. From his confounding man crush on Vladimir Putin to his nuclear saber-rattling with North Korea, Trump has created more fear than hope—and hope is an essential element of presidential leadership. He comes to the office warped by self-absorption, conceit, and a narcissistic certitude that he is always right while the rest of the world, unless it is busy flattering him, is wrong, even hostile. Without historical context, without humility, without empathy, he’s what the author of the book of Proverbs had in mind when he warned that pride goeth before a fall.”
I hope I haven’t lost you.
I could go on, but there are fair standards involved, and you know, these folks seem to all have the same opinion of you. Judging by these historians, I’d say fairly confidently that you rank about #44 on that list (counting Grover Cleveland only once).
Another good measure of comparison would be approval rating among the population. At this point in time, 11 months in, Obama’s approval rating varied from around 51-54%. Yours is between 35-38%, a difference of around 16 points, which is only about half the amount of the 32 spot ranking differential. Good news there.
And then there are the differences I note as as an interested observer. Your predecessor was known as “no-drama Obama.” You tend to keep the drama at something of a fever pitch. No judgment there for me, just a matter of personal preference. What I do find significant however is in each of your level of preparedness for the job as president. Obama is a constitutional lawyer, who in fact taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Your own experience in education (Trump University) is somewhat less relevant to the demands of the presidency. Also, Obama had years of legislative experience on both the State and Federal levels. Your experience in real estate and various other endeavors are again, less relevant. Not to judge you too harshly here because while you may be in over your head as president, it’s doubtful that Obama could fill your shoes in whatever it is you did in your working life either.
As to that job, President Obama was able to maintain excellent relations with our allies around the world, and even with nations where relations were somewhat strained, while also upholding our own national interests and security concerns. You on the other hand, tend to take a different, somewhat less collegial approach to our allies, though you certainly have better relations with people like Netanyahu of Israel, Erdogon of Turkey, and Dutarte of the Philippines. It may seem that the autocrats in Russia and China are embracing you to a greater degree as well, but just between you and I, I think they might be playing you a bit. Also, Obama is just one of those people that is beloved around the world by people of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, and so on. With you, that may not be as much the case, though there are white Nationalists in this country and internationally as well who do admire you a great deal.
In other areas of endeavor, Obama is a gifted orator, and to be honest, you are not, though you can really whip your base supporters into a frenzy with the way you speak off the cuff.
Obama worked hard to enhance the civil rights in America and to get health care to millions more people than before he took office. Civil rights isn’t really your thing exactly, and you’ve tried hard to take health insurance away from people, though as yet unsuccessfully.
Obama tends to not demean others when he speaks, and demonstrates a well-mannered approach to international diplomacy. He has never been known to push foreign leaders out of his way for example, hang up on others, or walk away from interviews when he doesn’t like the questions. Obama is a true gentleman. He’s very natural with children. He smiles readily and is very funny at events like the annual white house correspondent’s dinner. You tend to scowl a lot and no-showed that event.
Obama doesn’t heckle you the way you did him when he was president. Nor did he use his office for personal enrichment. He did not appoint family members or unqualified people to high-level positions. He did not run an Administration that was under investigation since its first day, rather he ran an Administration as clean as any in memory. He had no personal scandals, was never accused of sexually harassing, molesting, or attacking anyone. Nor did he ever brag of doing so. Barack Obama is as I’ve said, a gentleman, you sir, and forgive me for saying so, are not. Barack Obama has never declared bankruptcy in any enterprise he was involved in. He never called another human being a pig or a dog, never “moved on a married woman like a bitch,” never stiffed people working for him, never insulted members of Gold star families, never said there were fine people among groups of neo-nazies, , never denigrated members of the press corps, or the Fourth Estate in general.
Barack Obama has respect for the institutions of our government, including an Independent Judiciary. He does not lie so easily, and as president he worked hard on behalf of the people of this nation, which was never more apparent than when he provided aid and comfort to disaster victims and their families. He knew policy backwards and forwards, was completely engaged, and took great care in the things he said and in the decisions he made.
He brought the Nation back from the edge of economic ruin, cut the deficit by more than half, led us into a period of sustained economic growth, where the unemployment rate plummeted, and the United States regained a substantial level of respectability internationally, a level of respectability which has suffered mightily in the past year.
There are reasons Barack Obama is so highly rated as a president, his level of intellect and intellectual curiosity, his poise and his courage in the face of incredibly difficult circumstances, the extraordinary content of his character, his dignity, and his innate goodness. And he had a partner by his side, MIchelle Obama, with similar qualities, who many felt allowed him to do even better.
So how do you compare with your predecessor, Barack Obama? You don’t compare with him at all. Stop imagining that you do, and you might feel a whole lot better. I don’t mean to be unkind, I’m just telling the truth. In fact, the kindest advise anyone could give you would be to resign the presidency as soon as possible, and go back to the life you so loved before.