Historian Offers Advice for Donald Trump

To follow the lead of other U.S. presidents who wrote angry letters that they never sent, Donald Trump might consider having two Twitter accounts — one for saying constructive things and the other for nasty things he can share with his White House staff, said Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin.

“Clearly Donald Trump has mastered the new social media for communicating,” but his remarks on Twitter, for which he has been criticized, could end up causing him more trouble than they are worth, said Kearns Goodwin during a talk at the January Series.

In fact, the U.S. president-elect might take his lead from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who knew the value of silence and that sometimes it is best not to speak at all, considering “you are carrying the weight of the nation,” said Kearns Goodwin.

In a talk that skimmed through the course of U.S. presidential history, the former Harvard University history professor and author of several critically acclaimed books said there are other lessons that she believes Tump can learn from former U.S. presidents.

“We have learned that Donald Trump has lots of energy and only needs to sleep for four hours . . . and that he rarely takes a day off,” she said. “You can appreciate the importance of hard, sustained work. But hard work must be accompanied with the ability to relax.”

Abraham Lincoln, for instance, loved to read and to tell stories. At times he would be in a contentious cabinet meeting, as the Civil War raged, and he would take a break to tell cabinet members a funny story.

Theodore Roosevelt also loved to read, as well as to exercise, whether it was wrestling, playing a hard game of tennis, or leading people on a hectic hike through the woods.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt liked to have a cocktail hour and to chat with visitors about anything other than World War II in late afternoon gatherings at the White House, said Kearns Goodwin.

“I hope Trump can find ways of relaxing, which is something that is hard to do in today’s 24-hour, cell-phone world.”

Similarly, she said, she hopes the new president will be willing to learn the tough, give-and-take political ropes necessary for negotiating with and getting his legislation through Congress.

President Lyndon Johnson was a master at this; he would get on the phone and, often using rugged Texas language, bend arms and change minds, she said.

Johnson also invited members from Congress over for dinner, drinks, a good cigar, and a tour of the White House. “When you do this and get to know people, it makes it less likely that you will make terrible statements about one of these people,” said Kearns Goodwin.

Another good idea might be to climb aboard a train and, like Harry Truman, travel the country to find out what is on the minds of the people. “Put your policies in front of people in town halls and listen to what people are thinking,” she said.

Looking ahead to the Trump presidency, she said she hopes people who are unhappy with his election seek to unite and rally behind him as president.

“But, at the same time, be willing to fight for the things you believe in, on such issues as foreign policy,” she said. “You need to fight for ideas and not the things that happened in the past.”

Meanwhile, Kearns Goodwin said that she thinks Trump, who has come under fire for not divesting himself of his business empire, will learn that the normal checks-and-balances system of being in government life will work to keep him from ethically straying too far afield.

For the United States itself, she said it is time for people on the left and the right to take a breath and work to better understand people who aren’t on your side of the political divide.

“It is important for people who voted for Hillary [Clinton] to try to understand what the people who voted for Donald Trump are feeling” and vice versa, she said.

“Unless we put ourselves in the situation where other people are coming from, our democracy will be weakened,” said Kearns Goodwin.

It is far too early to even suggest what kind of president Trump will be, but it is also important to keep in mind, she said, “that when the right person is in the right place at the right time, great things can happen.”