The Case For Trump by Victor Hanson talks about the 2016 election and what exactly lead to the election of Donald Trump. The election was very surprising to many, especially because Donald Trump did not have political experience, while Hilary Clinton had much of it. Furthermore, Donald Trump does not act like a typical politician. He is much more abrasive and less “classy”. Hanson argues that his attitude is part of what got him elected, and that it appealed to the working class in America.
Hanson argues that there are “two America’s”, one comprised of the smaller cultural elite, and the other the larger working class. He states that they are growing apart in terms of views, and that most of the people in the lower class felt that regular politicians were failing them. Trump was an outsider, a bad boy, and his unique role in politics appealed to a sector of the culture who wanted real change in the country. Hanson also argues that there is a an ancien regime, which is a group of the cultural elite who are actively trying to oppose Trump. I do not think that the ancien regime is as strong as Hanson makes them out to be. I think that precisely what made Trump appealing to some voters is what puts him in the spotlight: he’s different than other presidents. Some people really like it, and some people really do not. This leads to people paying extra attention to him, some wanting him to succeed and some waiting for people to mess up. The fact that people have such strong views on Trump just furthers the cultural divide. However, I think this is a side effect of our divisive political system, and not the ancien regime being out to get Trump.
Hanson also argues that to be an effective President, you don;t necessarily have to be a moral person. Donald Trump is not a typically moral person, but many presidents in the past who we consider “good” have had similar scandals as Trump. Also, many of our most moral presidents have not been all that effective. I still do think it is important for presidents to show some degree of morality. It is clear that more than just racism and xenophobia of voters put Trump in office, however, Trump’s attitude and moral failures did give people with racist and xenophobic veiws more validity in their feelings. Because of Trump’s sometimes lack of morality, political correctness, and his ability to “tell things how they are”, some people interpret his words as racist, xenophobic, or tolerant of those things. Even if this isn’t Trump’s intention, it still gives the racists and xenophobes of the US a champion, and makes them feel like they have a voice and are not a minority. This makes them more dangerous, and spreads their views wider. It could be argued that this is not Trump’s responsibility, but I think as President, it should be considered his responsibility, and morality in a president is something we should value to an extent.
Overall, I thought this essay included some good points. Beginning with your introductory paragraph, I would suggest that you avoid wordy sentences. Despite this, there is a clear argument that is being made with examples from Hanson’s book. In your first body paragraph, including examples of how people support or do not support Trump is critical in proving your claim. The big picture idea about division between these two parties is made evident though. Lastly, the final paragraph mentions much about morals and how being a morally correct person does not necessarily pertain to the political success a President has. Again, including examples of how Trump is not a morally good person should be done in an effort to strengthen your argument. The general structure and topics mentioned throughout hold great potential in further proving your case.
This is a very good essay with a lot of strong evidence from the text to support your argument. You did a great job touching on all aspects of the prompt, but I think you could make your argument slightly more clear with a more direct thesis in your introduction. I enjoyed how you mentioned the issue of morality and effectiveness as president which tied in your essay directly with our discussion in class.
You bring up a lot of good points in your essay and I think that you have the textual evidence to back it up. I think your last paragraph is your strongest paragraph in this piece. The issue of whether a president should be a moral person is an argument held between many people. It is the president’s job to take care of millions of people in their country, and sometimes this means hurting one group to save many. I think you should refer to this throughout your piece more and not just all in the last paragraph. Also, be careful and watch for grammatical mistakes throughout the essay, and adding another paragraph at the end to recap on all your arguments would make the essay stronger and more efficient.
I find that overall you did a great job of summarizing arguments while adding in your own ideas. You presented a lot of strong points that respond directly to the prompt. I find that you should present this more in your thesis to provide more of an argument rather than a general statement as to what you will argue throughout your paper. I also find that you did a great job of using both elements that we learned from our readings in addition to what we learned in our in-class discussions. I find that this evidence would have been made stronger with specific quotations from the reading. You also did a great job in discussing the aspect of whether or not a president will be successful based upon how moral they are. I find this argument is essential to providing a valid argument in response to the prompt. I find your interpretation of how Trump is viewed because he is different than the typical president is insightful. When you state, “I think that precisely what made Trump appealing to some voters is what puts him in the spotlight: he’s different than other presidents. Some people really like it, and some people really do not. This leads to people paying extra attention to him, some wanting him to succeed and some waiting for people to mess up,” you provide reasoning as to one of the many reasons people’s opinions of Trump are both strong and divided. I find this to be essential to identify in this argument. Adding elements such as these to your thesis would strengthen your argument and provide a road-map to what you are going to present to the reader. Finally, I find that you need to spend more time proofreading for the small grammatical mistakes made.
Elizabeth: This is a very well written essay that you bring up some very good points in. To address your point about Trump being elected based on his loud, boisterous, and unforgiving personality, I think this is a product of his extensive celebrity career from his pre-presidential life. In essence, Trump lived above some societal norms and moral requirements for awhile due to his immense wealth. This can be seen even in very public matters like his TV show, The Apprentice, where he is often outright rude and disrespectful to his contestants. And yes, this personality did play a part in getting Trump elected, but it was the product of a lifetime career of privilege and disregard for the emotions of others. Also, I think Trump’s true key to success was mastering both of the “two worlds” of Americas that you brought up. Coming from a wealthy background and a history of tremendous economic success, Trump was able to easily appeal to the wealthy, upper class elite citizens of the United States. They recognized his potential to improve the country economically and protect their financial interests, as he also fell into that upper echelon of American society. Additionally, he won over the masses and working population of America with his promises to “Make America Great Again” by bringing jobs back from overseas, renegotiating beneficial trade deals for America, and all the while maintaining a fairly direct and transparent line of communication with the American people through a constant social media presence. Hanson also argues that a president does not have to be a good or necessarily moral person to be a good president. Two of the best overall men, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, to take on the Presidency in the white house were two of the least effective leaders that the United States have seen in recent history. And while both of those men are fantastic role models for children to look up to, they are not necessarily the sole and powerful voice that America needs to be in the world. These are just some general comments and ideas that you might be able to work into your paper, but overall I agree with everything you wrote and consider it to be a very well articulated essay.
This is a very well written essay that considers different viewpoints, which I liked. I agree with the point that it was Trump’s attitude was a factor that got him elected. People either really like Trump or despise him for the most part, so this divide has definitely lead to Trump’s name being extremely prevalent in the media. Trump’s unique background definitely gave him an upper hand in the election. He wasn’t a governor looking to use his past background to lead the country, but he was a billionaire celebrity trying his hand in politics, and this definitely compelled people to vote for Trump given the interesting nature of the situation. I agree with your point that it is definitely important for presidents to have some sort of morality, as people will have a hard time rallying behind a president that is immoral.
I enjoyed reading your essay. I thought you supported all of your arguments very well with evidence as well as your own opinions. I agree with how you describe Trump’s election as surprising because many people throughout the country had doubts if he was capable of being a politician. His personality is obviously very different than a lot of past President’s which at times turned people away, but has continued to keep the spotlight on him basically his whole life. Despite him being different than a lot of Presidents, he also shares similarities with some Presidents, especially ones that have had questionable morals but also strong leadership qualities. You mention all this in your essay which helps to strengthen your arguments.
Your essay was well written and brings up some interesting questions as far as how the political game is played and how specifically in politics nationalist sentiments can rise to the top and bring down the moral standing of the nation as a whole. While you argue that Donald Trump should be more considerate of this notion, I believe that most likely Trump and other leaders like him who have run on nationalist sentiments would not stop this behavior rather double down on it or just make it less obvious to the opposition because their desire to make an impact on the nation is great enough to ignore moral questionability.
This essay is well structured and does a good job of presenting Hanson’s view and then articulating your response to his positions. I think the point you are making in the last paragraph could be enhanced y providing a statement of Trump’s that was not racist in and of itself but may have lent credence to the views of racists and xenophobes, as you suggest.