Tag Archives: former presidents

national news

Trump: an unconventional former president, too?

Retirement has bestowed a lot of idle time on my hands, and my mind. Thus, I am able to spend a good bit of it pondering things that don’t usually concern most folks, such as those who are still working for a living.

For instance, I have begun pondering what kind of former president Donald John Trump will become once he vacates the White House for the final time.

Hey, I don’t think I am getting ahead of myself. His time is coming. It might be after one term; it might be sooner than that. Or it might be after — God help us! — a second term as president.

He’s been hands-down the most unconventional president in anyone’s memory. My creaky old bones tell me he’ll be an unconventional former president, too.

Do not expect to see Donald Trump devote his time to worthy causes. He didn’t have time prior to becoming president to devote a moment of effort other than to fattening his bank account. Self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement is this guy’s game.

He won’t build houses for poor folks around the world, as President Carter has done. He isn’t likely to establish a foundation aimed at furthering a whole host of causes worldwide, as President Clinton has done. Do not expect him to lend emotional support to our wounded veterans, as President George W. Bush has done. And don’t expect him to advance the cause of youthful empowerment, as President Obama is doing.

The late President Bush 41 vowed to remain quiet politically once he left office. He remained faithful to his pledge. President Nixon resigned in disgrace, but then emerged as a sort of elder statesman toward the end of his life while he sought to rebuild his shattered image after Watergate.

I suppose Donald Trump will continue to do whatever it is he did before he became president. He’ll wheel and deal for commercial property. He’ll play lots of golf at any of his posh resorts.

And oh yes . . . he’ll exercise his Twitter account.

I also am fairly confident in proclaiming that should Donald Trump lose his re-election effort in 2020 that he won’t go quietly into the night. Do you remember when Bill Clinton turned the White House over to George W. Bush and members of the 42nd president’s staff removed the “W” from keyboards inside the White House? The Bushkins were aghast. There well could be something of a scorched-Earth departure from the White House if Donald Trump happens to get beat next year.

Whenever his departure occurs, I do not expect this individual to slide gracefully into post-presidential retirement.

Ugghhh!

national news

Awkward encounter coming up?

If you’re honest with yourself, you are wondering the same thing I am wondering.

They’re going to honor the life of the late President George H.W. Bush on Thursday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Attendees for the event clearly will be others who held the exalted office that President Bush held for four years.

George W. Bush, the late president’s son, will be on hand. Bill Clinton — who forged a close friendship with Bush 41 — will be there. So, likely, will Barack Obama. And yes, so will Donald Trump. I don’t know yet whether Jimmy Carter will attend; I hope he’s there.

What are we wondering, you and I? Well, speaking for myself only, I am curious about how Presidents Bush, Obama and Clinton might react when they encounter the current president.

My guess — and that’s all it is — would be that they’ll all act correctly in public. In private? Well, we cannot know, unless someone who is among them leaks it to the rest of the world.

Donald Trump has expended a lot of his waking-hour energy disparaging Presidents Clinton and Obama. He’s been less vocal about “W.” I’m not going to get into the particulars about what Trump has said about his predecessors, although it is worth noting that he even mocked Bush 41’s “Points of Light” program that the late president made one of his signature domestic achievements.

I believe, too, that Trump will deliver remarks about President Bush during the National Cathedral event. It’s also good to understand that these men were not friends. Bush 41 even acknowledged some time ago that he voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, stiffing his fellow Republican, Trump.

I can see the potential for a number of awkward moments this week while the nation continues to bid farewell to President George Bush.

Let’s all watch with keen interest, shall we?

national news, political news

Wondering if POTUS consults with predecessors

It’s been said that former presidents of the United States comprise the most exclusive club in the world.

Only these individuals know with any sort of certainty what the current president is facing. Only they know the struggles he endures.

At this moment, the nation has five men who belong to that club: Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack H. Obama. I believe five is the most we’ve ever had at one time.

We’ve been down to zero. I believe the last time it occurred was when Lyndon Johnson died in January 1973, making the president at the time, Richard Nixon, something of a “political orphan.” He had no one with whom he could consult.

So, with that bit of backdrop, my thoughts turn to the current president and whether he is imbued with the inclination to ask any of his predecessors for advice, counsel or support.

I think I know the answer to that. Donald John Trump Sr. campaigned for the office declaring himself a “smart person” who would be surrounded by the “best people.” He told us he knows “more about ISIS than the generals … believe me.” He said repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act would be “easy.” Trump kept boasting over and over about how his business acumen made him so rich. Trump said he had the “best mind,” and he seeks advice from within his own noggin, that he didn’t need anyone else.

Each of the men who served before him, though, bring certain knowledge and expertise about the myriad world problems confronting the president.

President Carter knows a thing or three about achieving peace in the Middle East; oh, wait, Trump has his 30-something son-in-law working on that one. President G.H.W. Bush has experience negotiating with Russians; oh never mind, Trump is tight with the Russians. President Clinton worked with Republicans in Congress to produce a balanced federal budget; Trump and congressional Democrats hate each other’s guts. President G.W. Bush rallied the nation in the weeks after 9/11; Trump detests Bush 43’s decision to go to war in Iraq. President Obama fought tooth and nail against Republicans seeking to block everything he did, but he still managed to enact the Affordable Care Act; Trump has failed on that “easy” effort.

Donald Trump certainly could use some counsel from any or all of the men who came before him.

Every indication I’ve seen — admittedly from a distance — tells me the president actually believes what he boasted. That he’s the smartest man ever to hold the office.

If only he was smart enough to realize he isn’t.