The most popular take on Donald Trump is that we’ve never seen anything like him before. But here’s the thing: We have seen something like Trump before — we saw it with Ronald Reagan. Now, there are obviously some big surface-level differences between Reagan and Trump. Reagan’s public persona was cool, calm, and collected; Trump’s is well, the exact opposite. Reagan had years of political experience before he ran for president; Trump has none. Reagan also was also deeply religious, or at least “spiritual” (he didn’t go to church); Trump, I don’t think, has ever had a spiritual thought in his life. But if you ignore those obvious differences and focus on how Trump is running and framing his campaign, you’ll see that he’s doing the exact same thing Reagan did, only in a style more appropriate for today.
Always Question Authority 