Donald Trump is a 70 year old New York native who has had a very successful career as both a business man and a television personality. Trump was born in 1946 in Queens, New York to an upper middle class family. Seen as an assertive yet mischievous boy, he was sent to the New York Military Academy. In an interview with CNN Trump said this of the military academy, "I can tell you that one of the great choices I ever made in terms of success is the choice of going to NYMA,”. After the NYMA, Trump attended college at Fordham University for two years then transferred the University of Pennsylvania/ Wharton College.
Upon graduating from college, Trump returned home to work for his father. He was disappointed by the profit his father was making, so the decision to leave for Manhattan to pursue real estate was made. From there, Trump ascended the business world creating enterprises such as Trump Vodka, GoTrump.com, Trump Towers, Trump Airways, and many more. His estimated worth from business alone hovers around 2 billion. 
Despite being a well known real estate mogul, Donald Trump’s high name recognition stems more form his TV personality days. The show he is most known for is “The Apprentice”. It was here that his outgoing and sometimes abrasive personality made him both a star and a household name.
Despite his very impressive business resumé, I don’t believe that Donald Trump is qualified to be President of the United States. My main reasoning is that there is a certain level of almost ceremonially conservative nature that president’s have traditionally had, and that Donald Trump lacks. From his fame on a reality show to his overtly sexist and crass comments (ie access hollywood video http://www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-on-video-making-lewd-remarks-about-women-781481027898), I believe he lowers the station of the presidency. These are just the character flaws, not to mention the resumé flaws. He has zero experience in the political world. However, I can see why his constituency believed he was qualified. Firstly, with all of her previous scandals, Hillary Clinton wasn't too daunting of an opponent. Second, he is known as such a good business man that people believed that there isn't a task that would be too big for him.
Trump has a very double edged sword type of image. On one hand, he is seen as an every day hard working American who is fed up with Washington. That is the image his constituency ate up, and that is exactly what his campaign team wanted everyone to see. On the other hand, his opponents see him as a bigot fascist who will run this country into the ground. They have this perception of a bigot because of comments on Mexicans and Muslims, and the perception of the fascist comes from his intensely nationalistic rhetoric.
If I were to be advising him on how to rework his image there is a couple things that I would tell him. First off, I would tell him to find a way to help possibly a private enterprise provide the services Planned Parenthood did. This would appeal to both the feminist movement and his private sector loving constituency. Second, he should attend a mosque for church. This would help quell the anti-muslim vibes he gives off. His constituency wouldn't love it but the partisanship is so strong they wouldn't sway. Thirdly, I would release his financial information to a blind fund. It improves transparency as well as follows the presidential tradition. If Donald Trump follows these guidelines, I believe he can turn his image around and garner for support from across the aisle, hopefully making these next four years much better than I anticipate.
http://www.evancarmichael.com/library/donald-trump/His-Very-First-Property-Donald-Trump-Is-Born.html
Daniel I agree with you on a lot of these points you made! I also think you have great advice for him to help rework his image. One thing I noticed is that you didn't bring anything up about his ties with Russia, which has been very relevant recently in the news. What would you suppose he should do about that?
ReplyDeleteI like this post a lot. It will be interesting to see how he uses his personal life's success and mix it with the stressful life of politics. I think regardless he will stay rich. I do agree with your comments regarding his image flaws. These sorts of things can really take away from a successful presidency.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of this post, Dan. Though I did have some thoughts regarding your suggestions for Trump's image. First, a private enterprise to replace Planned Parenthood...I mean technically, as a 501(c), it is private, just tax-exempt. I'm curious how running it as a business would function, given that many women rely on the federal funding it receives to afford care at low cost. Perhaps you could clear this up for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd your strategy which attempts to distance Trump from his "anti-muslim vibes". Bold. Does he have to convert or just attend?
I agree with you on your comments on Planned Parenthood. I didn't do a good job of explaining what I meant. I think the purpose of PP is to provide affordable health care to women and women's reproductive needs. So a complete free market version of PP could replace a government funded version, if a price ceiling was placed on the medications and as well as the pharmaceutical monopolies were broken up. This would be the method that I think Trump could use to help his women specifically with women under 35, while keeping party officials happy.
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