Local Trump supporters think I am unfairly critical of the president. I can summarize what they collectively say to me in one sentence: “He’s done and said stupid things, but you have to remember the many great things he’s done for our country.” You cannot argue with that kind of logic, simply because people stubbornly cling to their beliefs regardless of any evidence to the contrary. I understand, because I thought so highly of the character and decency of Jimmy Carter that it took several years before I could accept that his was a failed presidency.
Precisely what positive things has Trump done? I look back on every president who has served in my lifetime, and I can find greater accomplishments during the terms of each.
Carter produced the Camp David Accords. From the birth of the modern Israel until that achievement, the greatest enemy of that nation was Egypt. Nearly every armed confrontation faced by Israel to that time was with Egypt. In the 42 years since, those two nations have been at peace.
In President Gerald Ford’s short tenure, he gave us the Helsinki Accord, considered a significant step in ending the Cold War. Donald Trump went to Helsinki and gave America a black eye.
President Harry S. Truman, with approval ratings south of Trump’s, gave us the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift and desegregation of the military. Ike gave us our interstate highway system. Kennedy’s cool-headedness prevented near-global annihilation. LBJ produced the two greatest civil rights laws since Lincoln, plus Medicare and Medicaid. The disgraced Nixon created the EPA and opened diplomacy with China.
The list goes on and on, and Trump’s alleged achievements pale in comparison.
The president claims we now have the greatest economy the nation has ever known; that he has given us greater economic growth and job development than any other president. His supporters point to the stock market and believe it never improved as much under any other administration. But the facts don’t jibe with the hype. Compare the 22% stock market growth under Trump with the records of Coolidge’s 209%, Clinton’s 202%, Obama’s 166% and Ford’s 37%. Compare the average annual Real GDP growth of the modern presidencies, and you will note that Trump’s record is about par for the course, rather than his proclaimed miracle. For example, we had 4.25% annual growth with JFK, almost 5.5% under LBJ, 3.25% with Carter, 3.5% under Reagan. Clinton gave us 3.75% growth annually, and under Bush II it was just over 2%. Obama’s overall record was an abysmal 1.5% but you may recall he inherited the Great Recession, which took years to correct. In fact, the last three years of Obama’s term produced growth as good or better than the first three of the Trump administration.
Review job growth under the various presidents, and you discover that FDR holds the record for percentage growth at 21.5%, but that is an unfair comparison since he inherited the Great Depression. Therefore, I give the nod to Reagan’s 16.5% job growth. In terms of the actual number of jobs created, the record falls under Bill Clinton with 18.6 million, or 15.6%. How does the Trump record compare with the man he most despises? In March Forbes ran an article titled “Obama’s Last Three Years of Job Growth All Beat Trump’s Best Year,” and that claim was verified by Snopes.com.
Which will you accept, the hype or the facts? In time the veil of bias will lift, and my Trump-supporting friends will come to realize the utter failure of this president.
Michael Adkins formerly was chair of the Hancock County Democratic Party. Send comments to [email protected].
