Who is Trump's best historic/current parallel?

[OSR stands with Israel]

Teddy Roosevelt larger then life persona, Nixon shrewdness

[Thunderbird is the word]

FDR is probably the best comparison.

A high energy, extremely wealthy New Yorker with no particular ideological convictions other than Making America Great Again? Yep.

I think that TR is a better analogy given that TR combined economic populism with blatant nativism.

[Pyro]

Andrew Jackson

The perfect analogy.

[Maxwell]

Andrew Jackson

I too thought Andrew Jackson.

[Sir Mohamed]

A mixture of Jackson, Reagan and Perot.

[Classic Conservative]

Nixon

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Wait no I've got it: a hybrid between the candidates of the 2013 Australian election Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and leader of the Liberals Tony Abbott.

I'll start with Abbott. Although I've seen Abbott worshipped around here by the American conservative movement, they are wrong to. TAbbott was never a doctrinaire economic conservative (he once commented that economics was boring). His campaign was feverishly opposed ny the ilk of the Economist and had higher costs in its promises (like his beloved Paid Parenthood scheme, designed ti increase the fertility, as such right-wingers are obsessed with birth rates).

What Abbott is, however, is a nationalist. Yes, right-Australian nationalism uses different tropes to the American version (namely worship of the motherland and an aversion to the cultural cringe all Aussie middle-class liberals exhibit in polite company), but it's the same thing. Trump and Abbott both simplified (some might say stupidified, but of course I'm coming from the sneering perspective they rail against) politics to a series of pithy, punchy phrases. Stop the boats. Build the wall.  

Abbott's fraught relationship with northern neighbour Indonesia, his tough guy promise to "shirtfront" Putin, his nigh on crusade outlook on the MENA  is a perfect picture of how right-wingers of their ilk (Abbott's simplistic but not unfair descripton of "baddies vs baddies" vis a vis Syria links with Trump's rejection of the Washington foreign policy synthesis) view the world: countries are bullies, and to survive you have to be the meanest and toughest of the bullies.

Compare with that their talent on winning elections (although whether Trump is a better manager than Abbott was not is yet to be seen), the sort of off the whim management style,, the creepy relationships with their daughters etc.

And Rudd? Well, he, like Trump, is a massive egotistical prick who the party hated but the grassroots loved.

[Asian Nazi]

Australian liberals also laughed off Abbott's chances until he finally won.

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Didn't Abbott get in a lot of sh**t for proposing an austerity-heavy budget? I remember something like that.

[Maxwell]

If it's Trump vs. Hillary, I think William Jennings Bryan vs. William McKinley is a perfect comparison for the general election.

[Panhandle Progressive]

Goldwater.

Not because of policies, character, or coalition.

Rather,  his inevitable crushing loss, will point out how doomed is that electoral strategy (in Trumps case the inane belief the GOP can still win by driving the white blue collar vote). And thus, the forerunner of a  new Tricky Dick who will push for, well, the inverse of the southern strategy.

This is right.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

As I said, Abbott has no interest in economics beyond cutting taxes he sees as unfair. His budget, which was really inexplicably bad (even with the fall in mining at the time), came from his Treasurer who was an incompteent. Even so, ABbott pushed for a temporary income tax called something like the patriotism tax which really shows the difference national conservatism and the economic liberalism that is now conservative ideology.

[Joe Republic]

Goldwater.

Not because of policies, character, or coalition.

Rather,  his inevitable crushing loss, will point out how doomed is that electoral strategy (in Trumps case the inane belief the GOP can still win by driving the white blue collar vote). And thus, the forerunner of a  new Tricky Dick who will push for, well, the inverse of the southern strategy.

I can agree with this, but also if you include how the landslide-losing ideology was ushered in in another massive landslide anyway just four cycles later.  That's feasibly the direction I see this country going.

[PeteB]

Besides some of the people mentioned, Trump reminds me of Juan (and Eva) Peron of Argentina. Like Trump's, the Peron followers praised their efforts to help "common people", while their opponents considered them demagogues and dictators.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

All I know is that it is impossible to really describe his ideology.  Trumpian might have to become the term to use.

[rob in cal]

    I like the Berlusconi comparison.  They both had sports teams also.  Berlusconi had a broad center to the right electoral alliance, and Trump seems to be trying to assemble this as well.  Who else is there who could claim to be the most pro-Israel candidate running in a national debate and then a few days later only half-heartedly reject David Duke?

[Sir Mohamed]

He's 2/3rds William Jennings Bryan and 1/3rd Wendell Willkie.

LOL. Willkie and Trump have nothing in common other than they never held public office. Willkie was a pro-business high intellect liberal who was decades ahead of his time as far as social issues are concerened. In terms of race equality he was even more progressive than FDR. And after he lost, he was very loyal to the president during the war years. Willkie would have been a great president; the Trumpster would make a terrible one.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Berlusco.

[Meclazine for Israel]

The Mouth of Sauron

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Discuss: Michael Heseltine

[Orser67]

William Randolph Hearst never ran for president, but he has a lot of parallels with Trump. A populist billionaire heir reviled by the establishment.

[RI]

William Randolph Hearst never ran for president, but he has a lot of parallels with Trump. A populist billionaire heir reviled by the establishment.

So basically Citizen Kane.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

William Randolph Hearst never ran for president, but he has a lot of parallels with Trump. A populist billionaire heir reviled by the establishment.

So basically Citizen Kane.

That is Trump's favorite movie, yes.

[RINO Tom]

He's 2/3rds William Jennings Bryan and 1/3rd Wendell Willkie.

LOL. Willkie and Trump have nothing in common other than they never held public office. Willkie was a pro-business high intellect liberal who was decades ahead of his time as far as social issues are concerened. In terms of race equality he was even more progressive than FDR. And after he lost, he was very loyal to the president during the war years. Willkie would have been a great president; the Trumpster would make a terrible one.

So, he was a Republican who supported civil rights (which you have chosen to characterize as a liberal view)?  So, like, he wasn't a liberal?  Got it.

I also think it's kind of funny to suggest Trump has low intellect; he's literally playing millions of people right now.

[RightBehind]

Jim Jones.

Trump is a con artist. He said on the Anderson Cooper interview on CNN that he never said to kill the family members of ISIL but go after them.

Donald, you said on Fox, 'You have to take out their families.'

It's no wonder you love the poorly educated. They don't do their homework and have a selective memory.

We know better, Drumpf. I can see your crap from thousands of miles away.