Is Trump the first dictator president?

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

?

[The_Doctor]

Examining the World War II parts of the Wilson and Roosevelt presidencies would be instructive here.

[Person Man]

Examining the World War II parts of the Wilson and Roosevelt presidencies would be instructive here.

They really didn't want to go to war, though. Trump is running as a dictator. Even Bush ran against being a War President at first.

[dead0man]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

[MLM]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

This.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Of course not. He's not president yet.
More seriously, I doubt he'll be an actual dictator.

[Cashew]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

[LLR]

Trump is definitely not a dictator. Maybe Putin is, and maybe Trump is too soft on Putin. but this is a complete false equivalency, and to accuse Trump of being a dictator is to show a lack of understanding on either Trump's policies or the meaning of dictator.

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

This.

[Santander]

Hopefully.

[Representative simossad]

Hopefully.

This is alarming.

[elcorazon]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

so perhaps he's not a dictator, BUT, he is:
1. flouting ethics conventions, claiming they don't apply to him, allowing him to violate constitution from day 1.
2. threatening press with regularity in many different ways, all of which has the impact of less freedom of the press.
3. regularly lying and denying the legitimacy of the press or others who criticize him.

with an ineffectual Republican Congress, he is in a position to be given an inordinate amount of power. Few previous presidents have ever sought to take as much power as they potentially could and at the same time had another branch of government there afraid to stop them. This has the potential to lead to a dangerous and inexperienced as well as hot tempered ill-informed man to have dictator-like powers. I don't think the left is overstating the concern here.

[Mr. Smith]

If you're really playing this game, right now, Nixon says hello.

[President Johnson]

No. I still say it isn't possible in America and any president trying to make him a real dictator would sooner or later be impeached.

[dead0man]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

so perhaps he's not a dictator, BUT, he is:
1. flouting ethics conventions, claiming they don't apply to him, allowing him to violate constitution from day 1.
2. threatening press with regularity in many different ways, all of which has the impact of less freedom of the press.
3. regularly lying and denying the legitimacy of the press or others who criticize him.

I think you might be confusing him with Congress on that first point...unless I missed something?  None of this is anything close to dictator like powers.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It's great that your side is FINALLY against excessive powers of the POTUS.  You were oddly quite the last 8 years as Obama used his "pen" to get his way time and time again.  Some of us were telling you that this was a bad precedent, but it was in one ear and out the other.

and the left is always overstating concerns.

[RI]

If you're really playing this game, right now, Nixon says hello.

Sure, and Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, etc. Being a "dictator president" in this context isn't even a bad thing inherently.

[NeederNodder]

If you're really playing this game, right now, Nixon says hello.

At least Nixon played nice with Intelligence. Trump is a number one target to the intelligence agencies now.

[bagelman]

I'll be that guy and point out that he's not the president yet. 58 hours left.

[Person Man]

If you're really playing this game, right now, Nixon says hello.

At least Nixon played nice with Intelligence. Trump is a number one target to the intelligence agencies now.

What happens if inteligence and the press are pissed off?
Maybe if nothing and Trump wins the war with them, he gets to decide what did and didn't happen. That is a dictator. At this point, he wants to be a dictator but he isn't there yet, even in 2 days.

[Hillary Lost]

Only a liberal whacko would ask such a thing.  You're party is completely insane.

[fhtagn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPRfP_TEQ-g

After watching this, probably.

But in all seriousness, no.

[Antonio the Sixth]

What a strange way to phrase it.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Obviously we've never had a dictator and still don't.  The hyperbole from the left is really off putting FYI.  Trump is bad enough with his actual bull sh**t, we don't need to make up crap to make him seem worse.

     I agree with this post. What's more, it was this absurd hyperbole that was an important factor in motivating me to vote for Trump. I don't care for much of what he says, but when everything the other side pumps out is distilled BS it does not endear me to their point of view.

[Xing]

No, he's just a narcissistic clown with thin skin.

[angus]

Is Trump the first dictator president?

No.  

Obviously it depends upon your definition of dictator, but I'd say that the first dictator president was probably Lincoln (suspension of habeus corpus, executive usurpation, the first conscription of US citizens into military service, etc.)  In fact, his executor famously uttered the words "Sic Semper tyrannis!" as he raised his knife and jumped from the balcony at the Ford, snagging his leg in a US Treasury Guard flag which caused him to sprain his ankle.  

Most of them since Lincoln have also been dictators, although a few have not, e.g., Jimmy Carter.  Trump will probably be one as well, but he will certainly not have been the first.  

I'd like to get back to the George Washington model of US President, with extremely limited powers, but that model is history now.  The Donald has many shortcomings, and is manifestly ill-suited to be the president of the United States of America, but he will not be our first dictator.