Skip to content
Sign upSign up free
Sign up free
Opinion

Is Donald Trump Really All That Unprecedented?

Is Donald Trump Really All That Unprecedented?
Photo by Gage Skidmore on Flickr. Creative commons license.

Donald Trump's address to Congress last week is the latest in a string of highly partisan moves designed to please his base and needle his opponents.

By Dan Sally

1-minute read

Donald Trump's address to Congress last week is the latest in a string of highly partisan moves designed to please his base and needle his opponents. While his divisive approach seems unusual by modern standards, have we been here before? In this episode, Dan and Shawn plumb the depths of American history and find a president not all that dissimilar from our 45th/47th, discuss whether Trump is leading a lasting transformation of the GOP, or one that will fade like past populist movements, and what Democrats (and disaffected Republicans) can learn from history to mount an effective resistance.

Tags: Opinion Middleweight Politics Commentary

Adhere to the IVN etiquette

By posting a comment, you agree to adhere to our etiquette rules: No partisan attacks, no personal attacks, substantiate your sources, no self-promotion.

Get IVN’s Free Weekly Newsletter:Get IVN’s Free Newsletter

Get IVN’s Free Weekly Newsletter:Get IVN’s Free Newsletter

Nonpartisan Issues. Diverse Perspectives.

Check your inbox and click the link to confirm.

Republish this article

Republishing guidelines

Republish IVN articles for free. Independent Voter News articles may be republished online or in print under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, on these terms:

  1. Credit the author and IVN. Keep the byline ("By Author Name, Independent Voter News") and the attribution note at the end, which links to the original.
  2. Point search engines to the original. Set the canonical URL of your copy to the original IVN article (the HTML we give you includes the tag).
  3. Keep the meaning. You may update time and place references and apply your house style. You may trim for length, as long as the cuts don't change the meaning or misrepresent the author. Keep the headline. Mark any additions as your own (for example "Additional reporting by ...").
  4. Translations are welcome. Translate faithfully, add "Translated from English by [your outlet]", and tell us at editor@ivn.us.
  5. Keep the links, including the link to the original article.
  6. Keep the tracking image. The HTML includes a 1-pixel image that counts readers on your page. It collects no personal information.
  7. Photos and illustrations. Images credited to IVN may be used with this article only. Images credited to others (AP, Getty, Unsplash, Wikimedia and so on) stay under their owners' terms. Secure the rights or switch "Include images" off.
  8. Don't sell it. You can't sell our articles or sell ads specifically against them. Your normal site advertising is fine.
  9. No implied endorsement. Don't suggest that IVN or the author endorses you, your candidates or your causes, or that donations to you support IVN.
  10. Keep labels. Opinion or analysis pieces keep that label.
  11. No bulk or automated republishing, and don't submit our articles to aggregators (Apple News, Google News, MSN) as your own.
  12. Corrections and removals. Update your copy when we correct it, and remove it promptly if we ask. We'll contact you at the email you give us.
  13. Questions or print republication: editor@ivn.us.

IVN staff: fill in who you're inviting above, then create the invite.

Preparing the article

Is Donald Trump Really All That Unprecedented?

By Dan Sally
Choose a format
  • HTML
  • Email HTML
  • Markdown
  • Formatted (.docx)
  • Plain text
  • WordPress blocks
  • PDF
Choose a platform
  • Substack
  • WordPress
  • Ghost
  • Medium
  • Squarespace
  • Wix
  • Webflow
  • Drupal
  • BLOX CMS (TownNews)
  • Arc XP
  • LinkedIn
  • Beehiiv
  • Mailchimp
  • Kit (ConvertKit)
  • Buttondown
  • Google Docs
  • Microsoft Word
  • Print / InDesign
  • Other website
  • Other newsletter

Photos credited to others need their owners' permission.

To for

Republishing somewhere else? Questions? editor@ivn.us