Episode 28: Donald Trump

The Past, the Promise, the Presidency

Today’s episode is all about Donald John Trump, the 45th president of the United States. So, so much to say. And yet, Trump’s presidency is also so fresh, what could we say in an introduction that you’d not already know? The only president ever impeached twice by the House of Representatives; he was also the first in more than a century to voluntarily refuse to attend his successor’s inauguration. He was also one of only five presidents to have won the Electoral College vote without also winning the popular vote. Trump’s time in office was…unusual.

That was its point: to break away from the tired and worn in order to “make America great again.” The word “great” in that slogan naturally draws the eye. America must have been great before, and Trump’s policies sought a return. Great again. When precisely? And for whom? These were the central questions of his time in office, and also seem likely the central questions for historians still to come. As we’ve seen over the course of this inaugural podcast season, the promise of America was never fully available to all, and indeed, there were some moments in American history when the long arc of progress on issues of citizenship and racial equality seemed to take a step or two back, rather than forward.
First, we spoke to Professor Carol Anderson of Emory University, one of the nation’s leading experts—ok, THE nation’s leading expert—on the history of voting rights and voting discrimination in the United States. Prolific and influential, she is, among other words, author of One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy, and White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide. We then turned to Jamelle Bouie, New York Times Columnist and Political Analyst for CBS News, where he writes on campaigns, culture, and national affairs, having formerly been the chief political correspondent for Slate. No journalist has done more to provide historical context for our current moment than Bouie.

Together our guests revealed to important insights:

• Trump’s presidency represents a key moment for voting rights, as well as a continuation of the trends we’ve been discussing this season.
• Trump’s presidency can be boiled down to one factor: who has power, and what that reveals about the Republican Party today.

To learn more, visit pastpromisepresidency.com.
Join us tonight for a live season finale of season one!