The Biden (Non-Chaos) Interregnum Might End

It is always easy to write a “fascinating” story with a dystopian world view. Imagining worst-case scenarios has its own fascination, not because they are gratifying, but because they are getting the writer all revved up.

This might be slightly different when thinking about a second Trump presidency, primarily because all of us had the collective experience of his first term. It is difficult to compare that term with any presidential term in the almost 250-year history of the United States.

In that history, there has been Civil War during Abraham Lincoln, corruption during Andrew Jackson and a resignation in disgrace by Richard Nixon. There was the cognitive decline of Ronald Reagan – which allegedly almost led to his removal from office by his own cabinet.

And there was the presidency of George W. Bush, who got to the White House on the coattails of his own privileged father (and with the help of the U.S. Supreme Court).

He reacted to the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil by unlawfully attacking Iraq. The war crimes committed during that war might have been sufficient to get Bush convicted at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, were it not for the “small” detail that Bush was, after all, President of the United States.

And yet, Donald Trump trumps them all

And yet, recognizing the history of all of these presidencies, Donald Trump still stands out. Hirings and firings for and from the most senior and most important political positions came on a daily basis. It was Donald Trump’s way to dominate the news cycle of every single day for his entire term.

Donald Trump’s allegiance with Vladimir Putin, and the justified suspicion that Trump might indeed be an awakened Russian sleeper cell, destroyed the international order that had been so carefully built to create a safer world after two world wars during the first half of the 20th century. Even after Trump failed to win re-election, the Western alliance could not return to normal.

While the world had grown more and more complex long before Trump was crowned in January 2017, it took Trump’s sledgehammer to effectively undermine any values shared by the Western alliance – or even by the broader international community.

International treaties were not just ignored – as had often been the case. Trump openly tore them to shreds.

Trump’s rule by chaos

Order of any kind was antithetical to his persona – and had no place in his presidency. Anarchy and chaos were key instead. They created a convoluted environment where rational debate forbade itself.

Nowhere was this clearer than during the outbreak of the pandemic. Any president would have faced great difficulties in managing this unprecedented crisis.

But the outright disregard for the unthinkable magnitude of loss of human life that Trump displayed, if nothing else, disqualified him from running for any official position – including dogcatcher – again (no offense to stray dogs!).

Trump’s utter lack of empathy hindered him greatly in taking the right steps at the right time. Instead, he felt personally insulted and aggrieved by the outbreak of the pandemic. He actually felt violated.

Fighting science every step of the way

The only way for him to manage the pandemic in his own mind was to fight science every step of the way, to question all reasonable steps in getting in front of this deadly disease and to twist and turn even the most horrific statistical snapshots so that they would suit his self-aggrandizing view of himself.

It all ended, as we know, in Trump’s defeat, and his denial of having lost, which peaked on January 6, 2020, when he – at least rhetorically – supported an insurrection of a large band of criminals.

The insurrection led to the storming of the nation’s Capitol, and the active search by the insurgents for leading Democrats inside the building, but most of all for Trump’s own Republican Vice President. The insurgents fully intended to hang all of them. Meanwhile, Trump stayed silent.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

After this national (and international) nightmare, disgrace and embarrassment, how could we find ourselves where we are today: At the cusp of another Trump term? After all, after his first term had ended, Trump was denounced by many Republicans.

Trump was rightly sued and prosecuted in civil and criminal courts. Some of the accusations that led to actual indictments are of the highest criminal order.

And yet, here we are. Trump bagged the Republican nomination on Super Tuesday. His only competitor left standing, Nikki Hailey, suspended her campaign a day after.

Republicans’ short-term memory

Many Republicans who promised “Never Trump (again” display the short-term memories of bees (2.5 seconds!).

The Republican Party seems uniquely re-united behind the most unqualified person to be President of the United States that one might imagine – a person who has been invariably described as a conman, a psychopath, an egomaniac and much, much worse.

Meanwhile, Democrats seem divided – and some of their independent supporters seem to display the same short-term memories as Republicans.

Trump is no Grover Cleveland

If things go his way, Donald Trump would become only the second U.S. President to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. The other was Democrat Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897).

To be sure, Cleveland won the popular vote in all three presidential races (1884, 1888 and 1892). Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 and 2020. He will likely do so again in 2024.

Cleveland’s biographer Allan Nevins described Cleveland this way: “He possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not.”

It hardly gets any more ironic than that should Donald Trump – who lacks all decency, never possessed integrity, reeks of corruption and has the courage of a bully (none) – should join President Cleveland.