Born To Fight Lincoln And Trump

Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump are two of a kind, despite terms in office separated by more than a century. Both encountered a biased press and deeply divisive political environments after being elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote. Each was viewed as an ill-equipped outlier and accompanied to office by first ladies ostracized by Washington's elite. Lincoln was known by those closest to him for his supreme self-confidence, inexhaustible ambition, mean streak, braggadocio, arrogance, vanity, and knack for thriving amid conflict. The same can be said for Trump, who can be better understood through the many parallels linking him to Lincoln. Born to Fight is the calm in the storm (or the fan for the flame). It dares bring together two apparent polar opposites, drag them through the harsh acumen of history and public perception, and lay them open to reveal two political icons amazingly alike. Evident on hundreds of levels, including the turbulent times they governed, Lincoln and our 45th President are revealed with such startling resemblance and clarity to spark renewed or even novel appreciation for these deceptively kindred American originals.

Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump are two of a kind despite terms in office separated by 150-plus years. Both encountered a biased press and deeply divisive political environments after being elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote. Each was viewed as an ill-equipped outlier and accompanied to office by first ladies ostracized by Washington's elite. Lincoln was known by those closest to him for his supreme self-confidence, inexhaustible ambition, mean streak, braggadocio, arrogance, vanity, and knack for thriving amid conflict. Ditto Trump. Born to Fight shows that Trump is better understood through the many parallels linking him to Lincoln.

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln · We love America and our founding principles. · We want to make a difference for good but don’t know how. · We want to yell “Freedom!” at the top of our lungs as the Scottish patriot William Wallace did in the final scene of Braveheart. · We think the 2020 presidential election was rigged. · We feel our children are propagandized to in school. · We are saddened by evil practices veiled as “political correctness” and “big government” dictates that squash our religious, speech, and personal protection constitutional rights. · We feel illegal immigration is significantly harming our country. · We know the mainstream media lies to America. · We want to pull the plug and “drain the swamp” in Washington, DC. · We are sick and tired of how America is being denigrated and infiltrated by Socialist, Marxist, and Communist philosophies. · We feel the Judeo-Christian fabric of our society is fraying at the edges. · We sense that federal spending is out of control. · We feel the unelected bureaucratic forth branch of government controls too much of our lives. · We are part of the “silent majority” who are ready to be silent no more. · We want to be instrumental in restoring America as the “shining city on a hill.” · We are patriots who want to leave a legacy of freedom to our posterity. · We believe in the virtue of the American Dream. If these statements resonate with you, read on…

A timely look at the atmosphere of political hostility surrounding the Civil War, and the venom faced by America’s sixteenth president. Today, Abraham Lincoln is a beloved American icon, widely considered to be our best president. It was not always so. This book takes a look at what Lincoln’s contemporaries actually thought and said about him during his lifetime, when political hostilities, and ultimately civil war, raged. The era in which our sixteenth president lived and governed was the most rough-and-tumble in the history of American politics. The hostility behind the criticism aimed at Lincoln by the great men of his time, on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, is startling, the spectacular prejudice against him often shocking for its cruelty, intensity, and unrelenting vigor. The plain truth is that Lincoln was deeply reviled by many in his time. This book is both an entertaining read and a well-researched, serious look at the political context that begat the president’s predicament. Lincoln’s humanity has been unintentionally trivialized by some historians and writers who have hidden away the real man in a patina of bronze. This book helps us better understand the man he was, and how history is better and more clearly viewed through a long-distance lens. “Not the warm and fuzzy portrait we’re used to seeing . . . An eye-opening study, the first of its kind to focus on what Lincoln’s contemporaries really thought of him. On the other hand, this is not mean-spirited Lincoln-bashing . . . Tagg assesses his presidency through the social and political context of mid-19th century America. It was a time, for example, when ‘the rabid press routinely destroyed the reputations of public men,’ when the stature of the presidency, ‘stained by feeble performances from a string of the poorest presidents in the nation’s history,’ had plunged over decades.” —Civil War Times Magazine

The extensively researched biography that goes beyond the hype to “separate Trump the reality from Trump the reality show” (USA Today). Now with a new introduction by the author, this entertaining look inside the world of Donald Trump is chock full of rip-roaring anecdotes, jaw-dropping quotes, and rigorous research into the business deals, political antics, curious relationships, and complex background of the forty-fifth US president. Granted unprecedented access, Timothy L. O’Brien traveled across the country and up and down the East Coast with Trump on his private jet, wheeled around Palm Beach with him in his Ferrari, and spent hours interviewing him in his home, in his office, and on the golf course. He met with the entrepreneur’s closest friends and most aggressive rivals, while compiling a treasure trove of Trumpisms from the Donald himself: Trump on the public’s enduring fascination with Trump: “There is something crazy, hot, a phenomenon out there about me, but I’m not sure I can define it and I’m not sure I want to.” Trump on naysayers: “You can go ahead and speak to guys who have four-hundred-pound wives at home who are jealous of me, but the guys who really know me know I’m a great builder.” Trump on the art of self-promotion: “You might as well tell people how great you are, because no one else is going to.” Ultimately, when O’Brien’s research revealed that Trump’s business record and annual spot on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans might be more fantasy than reality, he—like so many others who have dared to tangle with the former host of The Apprentice—found himself in a courtroom. In a new introduction, O’Brien reflects on the recent wave of TrumpMania and updates readers on what it’s like to depose one of the world’s most litigious businessmen—and win.

As this bestseller predicted, Trump has only grown more erratic and dangerous as the pressures on him mount. This new edition includes new essays bringing the book up to date—because this is still not normal. Originally released in fall 2017, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump was a runaway bestseller. Alarmed Americans and international onlookers wanted to know: What is wrong with him? That question still plagues us. The Trump administration has proven as chaotic and destructive as its opponents feared, and the man at the center of it all remains a cipher. Constrained by the APA’s “Goldwater rule,” which inhibits mental health professionals from diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those qualified to weigh in on the issue have shied away from discussing it at all. The public has thus been left to wonder whether he is mad, bad, or both. The prestigious mental health experts who have contributed to the revised and updated version of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump argue that their moral and civic "duty to warn" supersedes professional neutrality. Whatever affects him, affects the nation: From the trauma people have experienced under the Trump administration to the cult-like characteristics of his followers, he has created unprecedented mental health consequences across our nation and beyond. With eight new essays (about one hundred pages of new material), this edition will cover the dangerous ramifications of Trump's unnatural state. It’s not all in our heads. It’s in his.

This book seeks to answer a basic question: How did the GOP get from Lincoln to Trump? Follow this transformation as we look at the politics of all the Republican presidents, from 1860 to today, using simply what happened when they were president; what they believed, how they were supported, why they won and why they lost.But no book can do it all. Here you'll see dedication to certain issues: war, racism, immigration, economics, women's rights. By tracing the evolution of these issues, we get a good idea of how US politics evolved and changed. We see why the country feels as divided today as it did in Lincoln's time. Did you know that Garfield and McKinley, Republican presidents, were both killed by Republicans? That the Republicans were in favor of deposing the Hawaiian Queen but not the Democrat? Do you know the real reason the Vietnam war spun out of control? Or why the bad press for the Kennedys began? You'll also learn the realities of gun control. But the main focus is tracking, starting with the freed slaves under Lincoln, why we're a racist nation yet today.And more. There are comparisons to Democratic presidents. There are closer looks at why some GOP candidates didn't win, why some presidents were shot, and why some died. You will see particular attention paid to the 1960s, as a turning point in our politics. And we'll end with how many ways Trump seems wrong for our country, and where he seemed right.This is a book that demonstrates political attitude. Hang on. You're in for a bumpy ride.Author's second book of "journalistic history." For a dedicated approach to President Grant, see "Civil War & Bloody Peace: Following Orders."

WINNER OF THE LINCOLN FORUM BOOK PRIZE “A Lincoln classic...superb.” ­—The Washington Post “A book for our time.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin Lincoln on the Verge tells the dramatic story of America’s greatest president discovering his own strength to save the Republic. As a divided nation plunges into the deepest crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Washington and his inauguration—an inauguration Southerners have vowed to prevent. Lincoln on the Verge charts these pivotal thirteen days of travel, as Lincoln discovers his power, speaks directly to the public, and sees his country up close. Drawing on new research, this riveting account reveals the president-elect as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, as he foils an assassination attempt, forges an unbreakable bond with the American people, and overcomes formidable obstacles in order to take his oath of office.