The Legacy of Donald Trump

Ben Hawkes

There is no denying that Donald Trump has had a profound impact on not only the Republican Party, but American politics in general. From what started in 2015 with Donald Trump coming down an escalator evolved rapidly into a successful bid for the presidency of the United States. Over his four years in office we have seen political norms torn apart and a whole new philosophy born, commonly referred to as ‘Trumpism’.

 So what lead to Donald trump? And how did he end up causing the political upset of the century in 2016?

 The question of running for office is something that has been surrounding Trump since as early as the 1980s, and until 2012 he strictly brushed off running for office, choosing instead to focus on his business. That silence all changed around 2012, when Trump engaged in conspiracy theories as to where then president Barack Obama was born, something many Republicans still question to this day.

 After Obama defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, the GOP started an internal review into how they can reach out to a modern electorate now much more socially and economically liberal then it was twenty years ago. This however angered the Republican base, which still firmly believed in conservative ideals. when they saw their congressional leaders abandoning them, it was fertile ground for a candidate such as Trump to grow.

 Donald Trump crashed into the political scene in 2015 with a campaign that no one expected to succeed; more established Republicans in the race berated Trump for his rhetoric, but the Republican base loved him and he soon became the front runner and shortly after that, won the republican nomination for president of the United States.

 The Democrats eventually nominated Hillary Clinton after a long battle against Bernie Sanders. With a long record of being a First Lady, a senator and then Secretary of State, she was a household name, something that would later bring her down. Trump carried on with his rhetoric and outlandish personality all through the campaign, painting Clinton as a standard corrupt politician, and made the race increasingly tight. His rhetoric played well with white working class voters and soon, many broke their record of voting democrat.Despite this, many still believed Clinton would win, but when the votes were counted, Trump won 306 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232. The world was stunned as we witnessed the political upset of the century.

Shortly after Trump took office, we saw how devoted his base was to him, how anything Trump said was taken as gospel, but no one truly knew how far they were willing to go for their leader.

Things took a drastic turn in 2020,  a global pandemic and deep recession left Trump with little to campaign on. As was projected by many, he was defeated in the general election by Joe Biden, ironically with 306 electoral votes to Biden, and 232 to Trump.

So what is his legacy? And will the GOP unite?

Shortly after the election, Trump called foul play and started many legal battles, with little to no success. He stated that there was mass voter fraud, and his base believed him. At this point many Republican politicians stayed silent, but some cracks were beginning to appear, as Trump doubled down on state officials who refused to discount the votes of their state.

With cracks already starting to form, and grow, we thought that we had seen the worst of Trump, but on January 6th when the Senate was counting and certifying the results of the election, a crowd marched towards the US capitol and caused an insurrection. Many believe that Trump caused this, due in part to his harsh words about electoral fraud, as well as a speech he gave to the rally hours earlier.

The mob gained access to offices in the Capitol, with members of the House and Senate being evacuated, files stolen and people break into the office of US house speaker Nancy Pelosi. It truly was a dark day in America and for some Republicans, the final straw. Democratic house leadership filed articles of impeachment against President Trump, and ten Republicans broke rank and voted to impeach the president. History was made, Donald Trump became the only American president to be impeached twice.

The Senate trial is only just beginning as this is being written, and we still do not  know who will vote what way. But the GOP is fractured, some want Trump to remain the face of the party, others want him fully removed from the party.

So what will be Donald Trump’s legacy? For some he is a true American hero who restored America’s role on the world stage and made the economy thrive. For other he’s the man who made America weak at home by inciting hated and division. It truly depends on who you ask. That is the real legacy of Donald Trump.

Photo by History in HD on Unsplash.