Why every U.S. President would likely hate Donald Trump

As the 2020 Presidential election enters its general election phase, President Donald Trump continues to prove himself to be uniquely unqualified for his current position. But don’t just take my word for it. Take the words of, and most importantly the actions of, all our past Presidents. From Washington to Lincoln to even Jackson, everyone of these men could find a bone to pick with Trump. Some of these are more comedic than others, but I will share with you why every U.S. President would likely hate Donald Trump.

George Washington

Trump is not modest. From his name on all his buildings to his continuous praising of himself and his own leadership, Trump is not shy about his feelings toward himself. Washington, on the other hand, chose the simple, no-frills title of “President” when the new country was seeking a leader. While Washington stepped aside after two terms to ensure a peaceful transition of power, (even the King of England said if Washington stepped aside, “He will be the greatest man in the world”), Trump has continuously retweeted videos encouraging his clinging to power and actually encouraging a Trump dynasty.

John Adams

Adams was one of the few Founding Fathers to have never owned slaves. The moral courage necessary for this in the late 1700's cannot be understated. While Adams may have taken a stand on this moral issue, Trump has continued to defend slave owners and laud Confederate monuments, even when public sentiment has shifted.

Thomas Jefferson

In his book Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff stated plainly, “[Trump] didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. Some believed that for all practical purposes he was no more than semi-­literate.” No President would be more aghast of this than Jefferson, who owned between 9,000–10,000 books in his lifetime.

James Madison

Madison wrote one of our founding documents, the Constitution. Trump didn’t even write his own book.

James Monroe

Monroe dropped out of college to serve in the Revolutionary War and wore his military uniform even while in office. Trump used a bone spur diagnosis to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.

John Quincy Adams

Trump was a defendant when the Trump Organization was sued in 1973 by the Justice Department for discriminating against Black tenants. Adams argued before the Supreme Court for nine-hours to free enslaved Black men who had mutinied against their kidnappers on the schooner, Amistad.

Andrew Jackson

Jackson killed a man in a duel after the man insulted his wife. How do you think Jackson would have reacted if he could have overheard Trump when he was on the Access Hollywood bus?

Martin Van Buren

Van Buren was the only President who spoke English fluently as a second language, having been raised speaking Dutch. Trump can’t even say Yosemite.

William Henry Harrison

Harrison wasn’t afraid of any bad weather, including on his Inauguration Day (for better or worse for Mr. Harrison). Trump skipped visiting a WWI cemetery ceremony due to rain.

John Tyler

While Tyler managed to broker international treaties with the likes of the United Kingdom and Qing China with long-lasting impacts, Trump’s most noted international “peace” treaty with North Korea has led to the North Korea flouting international sanctions on nuclear weapons, just as they had done before Trump’s 2018 “peace” treaty.

James K. Polk

A noted workaholic, Polk ran (and succeeded) on four specific goals for his presidency. Trump’s poor planning hasn’t resulted in success in any of his campaign positions from building his border wall to locking up Hillary Clinton.

Zachary Taylor

Nicknamed “Old Rough and Ready,” Taylor ascended to the Presidency because of his military prowess. Trump, on the other hand, called his own military generals a “bunch of dopes and babies.”

Millard Fillmore

Fillmore opened up trade with Japan, expanding American influence across the Pacific. One of Trump’s first decisions as President was to withdraw the nation’s involvement from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, resulting in the U.S. being left out of other Pacific trade negotiations.

Franklin Pierce

Described as the “saddest President,” Pierce mourned the sudden death of his son throughout his presidency. Trump’s niece, Mary Trump has described Trump as being incapable of empathy.

James Buchanan

While Buchanan believed the Executive Branch should be “wisely limited and restrained,” Trump believes, “I alone can fix the system.”

Abraham Lincoln

No President fought harder to unify the nation than Lincoln. One of his most famous speeches delivered in 1858 began with the immortal words, “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” Trump in his inaugural address may have said, “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable,” but these words ring hollow when Trump retweets comments such as, “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”

Andrew Johnson

Johnson’s crowning achievement in office was arguably the purchasing of the territory of Alaska, adding nearly 600 million square miles of land to the United States. Trump meanwhile has discussed the idea of selling Puerto Rico.

Ulysses S Grant

Grant’s tenure has been scrutinized for the bevy of corrupt individuals within his cabinet, though Grant himself was regarded as being an honest man. Trump though has doubled down on a corrupt inner circle by pardoning and commuting sentences for friends of his, appointing his children to Executive Branch positions, and disregarding past President’s warnings about appointing corrupt individuals.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Hayes and his family attended church each Sunday and would sing hymns each evening. Trump cites “Two Corinthians” and only goes to church for a photo-op.

James A. Garfield

Wherein Trump has Betsy DeVos as his Secretary of Education and sought to slash the Department’s budget by over $8 billion, Garfield championed that the key to American success was an educated electorate, afforded to them by the federal government.

Chester Alan Arthur

Arthur signed into law the Pendleton Act which mandated federal government positions be given based on merit instead of political patronage. Trump hands out jobs to his loyal followers like candy, awarding positions to models, family members, his attorney’s children, and even his personal pilot.

Grover Cleveland

Cleveland was hailed as the most honest President of them all. Trump has made over 20,000 false or misleading statements as of July 2020.

Benjamin Harrison

Trump has stoked false information about voting by mail and filed lawsuits to block easier voting access. Harrison endorsed legislation opposing efforts from Southern states to limit voter access for Black Americans.

William McKinley

McKinley vastly expanded American influence in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Trump chooses to retreat from the forefront and promote isolationist tactics. Look no further than his immediate withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt is regarded as the “conservation President” and helped protect over 230 million acres of public land while in office. Trump has meanwhile leased public land to the fossil fuel industry. “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history, and romance as a scared heritage, for your children and your children’s children.” Think Trump said that?

William Howard Taft

Taft wished to break up all illegal monopolies and enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Trump has approved of controversial consolidations in media and communication industries form mergers between AT&T/ Time Warner and Sprint/T-Mobile.

Woodrow Wilson

Wilson sought to create a League of Nations which served as the precursor for the United Nations. Trump has begun withdrawing from the UN’s World Health Organization and said the UN is, “So sad!”

Warren G. Harding

Trump routinely bashes the press and journalists from the “lame stream media” to “the failing New York Times” to “FAKE NEWS.” Harding was a journalist before he became President.

Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge was nicknamed “Silent Cal” for speaking little and succinctly. A famous anecdote about him is one where a dinner party guest remarked to Coolidge, “I bet I could get three words out of you.” Coolidge responded, “You lose.” Trump just won’t shut up.

Herbert Hoover

Hoover used his personal wealth to save millions from starvation and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize FIVE times for his charitable efforts. Trump had his own charity, the Trump Foundation, dissolved because of misconduct and remains under criminal investigation while Trump University was found guilty of fraud.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Trump mocked a disabled person. FDR was disabled. Need I say more?

Harry S Truman

“The buck stops here” vs. “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Trump has feuded with his military generals and ignored their advice on domestic and international matters. Four-star general Stanley McChrystal even called Trump “immoral” and “dishonest.” Ike was a five-star General. I think he’s listening to McChrystal on this one.

John F. Kennedy

JFK believed in American exceptionalism and brought with him in his inaugural address a sense of hope through the words, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Trump brought “American carnage.”

Lyndon B. Johnson

Trump frequently targets Medicare and Medicaid and has proposed cuts to Medicaid upwards of $1 trillion. Johnson created both.

Richard M. Nixon

While Nixon brought American and Chinese interests together and became the first sitting President to visit the nation, warming relations between the two countries, Trump has brought relations to an all-time low, including launching a much-maligned trade war.

Gerald Ford

Ford was one of the most athletic Presidents in history and excelled at football in his college days at the University of Michigan. Trump believes exercise is “misguided” and that humans have a finite amount of energy.

Jimmy Carter

Carter put his modest peanut farm, Carter Farms, in a blind trust before taking office to avoid any conflicts of interest. Trump has spent nearly a third of his entire presidency at a Trump-branded property.

Ronald Reagan

Reagan served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild and starred in numerous Oscar-nominated films. Trump has five Razzie Awards including Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor, and Worst Screen Couple (with himself and his self-perpetuating pettiness). Not to mention, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library has asked Trump to stop using his likeness and name when raising campaign funds.

George H.W. Bush

Bush optimistically outlined his vision for America in his 1989 Inauguration with, “a thousand points of light of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good.” To which Trump said in 2017, “The thousand points of light, what the hell was that, by the way? Thousand points of light, what did that mean? Does anyone know? I know one thing: Make America Great Again, we understand.” Not to mention, Bush called Trump a “blowhard.”

Bill Clinton

Trump ran against Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham in 2016. Enough said.

George W. Bush

Trump said of Bush’s leadership in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, “That’s not keeping us safe.” Knowing Trump and his obsession with polls (regularly touting 96% approval rating in the Republican Party), I feel he was just jealous of Bush’s 90% national approval rating, the highest in Gallup history.

Barack Obama

Many people cite the 2011 White House Correspondent’s Dinner as one of the reasons Trump chose to run for President in 2016. Trump was mocked by Obama as during this time, Trump was the loudest voice in a birther conspiracy theory regarding Obama’s birthplace and thus qualifications to be President. Obama said at the Dinner, “Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter — like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” The New York Times wrote in March 2016, “That evening of public abasement, rather than sending Mr. Trump away, accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature in the political world.” No single President has earned the right to be as vocal a critic of Trump’s as Obama has.

Like Obama and the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, the time for joking has ended. Obama most recently said at the late Representative John Lewis’ funeral that Trump’s actions threaten the very foundation of our American democracy.

I was inspired to write this and highlight the breadth of Trump’s evil thanks to a Facebook exchange I ran into on my uncle’s profile. He’s been a lifelong Republican but is voting for Joe Biden this year. After my uncle called Trump a “penultimate narcissist” following his Axios interview with Jonathan Swan, the first comment to my uncle’s feed was a Trump defense. “Not the candidate…it’s the policies.”

It is the candidate. And it is the policies. And it should speak volumes that every President, regardless of party, regardless of policies, regardless of era, would likely hate Donald Trump.