Time to end secret data laboratories—starting with the CDC
The American people are waking up to the fact that too many public health leaders have not always been straight with them. Despite housing treasure…
Thought Leader: Marty Makary
Newt Gingrich: Presidents Trump, Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR
Most of today’s so-called experts totally misunderstand President Donald J. Trump’s daily activities. They fail to think about long strategic patterns and lack the historical knowledge to contextualize his behavior.
President Trump is rapidly growing a sense of Republican teamwork in Congress, state legislatures, and with governors across the country. If he keeps this pace, President Trump will clearly be in the same league as Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. All three built enormous national majorities. The 2026 election could be the watershed moment if Republicans gain in the House, Senate, and the states.
There are certain patterns which the great majority-making national leaders follow.
First, they demolish their opposition.
Jefferson was relentless. He organized his allies into the Democratic-Republican Party (now the oldest continuing political institution in the world). He drove the Federalist Party to the edge of extinction. As his faithful supporter, President James Madison continued to strengthen the Democrats and weaken the Federalists.
One symbol of this relentless partisanship was the word “gerrymander.” Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry desperately redrew that state’s congressional districts to save Federalist seats. One person suggested the strange new map looked like a salamander. Gerry’s salamander became gerrymander. Ultimately, the effort failed as popular support for the Federalists dried up.
Lincoln entered the most contentious and difficult presidency in American history. His name was not even on the ballot in most southern states. He got a plurality with 40 percent of the vote. However, he faced three opponents and swept the electoral college outside the South.
After the 1860 election, it was clear the nation was drifting toward southern succession or civil war to preserve the union. Lincoln was a career politician who helped grow the Whig Party – and then helped lead the new Republican Party. He understood of the importance of public opinion and the power of patronage in politics.
Lincoln spent a lot of time trying to understand what would work – and what was needed to maintain public support. His Gettysburg Address brilliantly combined history, morality, and idealism. Importantly, it was relatively short and accessible to every Northerner. In effect, Lincoln challenged them to support the war or abandon those who gave their lives for the cause of the Union.
On patronage, Lincoln ruthlessly fired 1,200 of the 1,500 policy-making federal workers. It was an 80 percent discharge rate. Those complaining about Elon Musk and DOGE should consider Lincoln’s record for perspective.
After a lifetime of politics and government, I can attest that personnel is policy. If you want a MAGA State Department, you must replace a significant part of the career professionals who have a globalist worldview. If you want a MAGA Environmental Protection Agency, you must replace a lot of the career professionals who are dedicated to a radical environmental worldview. The list goes on.
By 1864, Lincoln had grown a Republican Party which ultimately dominated American government for the next 68 years (excepting two short detours with Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson).
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt then ended this Republican dominance. He was as shrewd and determined as Jefferson and Lincoln. Roosevelt monitored public opinion and constantly maneuvered to put Republicans in impossible to defend positions. He used patronage of a rapidly growing government (the precursor to the monstrosity we have now) to build a coalition that included black voters in Chicago, Mississippi segregationists, labor unions, and big business.
Roosevelt was so effective Democrats dominated the House from 1928 to 1994. There were 64 years of Democrat majorities versus two one-term Republican majorities. Republican presidents could win within the framework Roosevelt built. They could push for a more conservative version of the Roosevelt system. But none were prepared to take it apart.
President Trump is the first president in modern times to win with a platform based on deep, dramatic change. If you look past the daily zigs and zags and instead focus on overall patterns, President Trump is clearly in the tradition of Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR.
First, all of them established big goals around which the American people could rally.
Jefferson opened the West and personified the rural, small farmer. Lincoln worked to save the Union. FDR aggressively used government to reduce pain during the Great Depression – and then defended America against the Axis powers.
All these leaders instinctively stood for something bigger than themselves. It was telling in 2015 that instead of having a self-centric slogan, Trump instinctively adopted Make America Great Again. It combined national pride, a better future, and a cause most Americans support. This was perfectly in-line with the Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR tradition.
Second, the historic great leaders maintained a disciplined understanding of the difference between strategic goals and tactical problems.
They constantly reverted to the big goals and projects that made a historic difference. They managed a lot of small decisions and issues, but they didn’t get bogged down in them.
If you consider the number of decisions Lincoln made – and the breadth of the problems he faced – it is astonishing how he stayed focused on winning the war and preserving the union. Modern constant media, massive bureaucracies, and enormous armies of lobbyists all combine to make focusing on the decisive big things even more difficult.
Third, all of them were constantly in the news – and advocating positions with which most Americans agreed.
Great leaders overwhelm their opponents by sheer volume of information and activity. It keeps the media focused and the country fascinated.
One goal is to shrink opponents by denying them space to reach the American people. They understand that if they identify with the American people, the American people identify with them. Jefferson was the small farmer. Lincoln was “honest Abe” and a woodcutter. FDR had a jaunty cigarette holder and constantly identified with those who needed help. These images made all of them more acceptable.
Fourth, Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR, seemed to have endless energy.
Trump clearly is following this tradition. He was the first president to attend the Super Bowl. He attended the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He showed up for the NCAA wrestling championship. He did all these things while also commanding the news cycle with his policies. The American people see him everywhere doing everything.
Fifth, America’s historic majority-builders developed evolving and popular implementation programs – and made constant tactical modifications as situations change and mistakes or failures had to be corrected.
Reality sometimes forces us to shift. Lincoln’s effort to round up votes for the Fifteenth Amendment to abolish slavery is a case study in constant tactical maneuvering. FDR’s work to move America against Nazi Germany is a case study in bobbing and weaving in public dialogue. Reality sometimes forces you to bend and maneuver or be defeated. Great leaders intuit when they are at that point.
Sixth, these great leaders changed radically when the circumstances justified it.
Jefferson was a passionately small government fiscal conservative. But he didn’t pass up the opportunity of the Louisiana Purchase. He also sent Marines to the shores of Tripoli to fight the Barbary Pirates when it was necessary. So, he made exceptions.
Similarly, Lincoln entered the presidency focused on saving the Union. He was actually cautious about the issue of freeing the slaves. Two years later, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This freed the slaves in rebellious areas before he later moved to end slavery in the whole country. When circumstances change, great leaders change.
FDR had the same challenge. His platform in 1932 was to the right of President Herbert Hoover. He attacked the Republicans for profligate spending. Yet, once in office, he spent far beyond anything Hoover could have imagined. There will undoubtedly be similar moments for President Trump when new circumstances require new solutions.
If you keep these six principles in mind, they explain a great deal of President Trump’s daily behavior and the strategic patterns he is forging.
Newt Gingrich’s extensive experience in politics, leadership, and public policy provides him with a unique perspective on historical and current events, making his keynote both insightful and thought-provoking. His ability to analyze complex political and economic trends with clarity ensures that his audience gains a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities shaping the future. To host him for your event, contact WWSG.
Relevant posts
David Frum: How Harris Roped a Dope
This piece is by WWSG exclusive thought leader, David Frum. Vice President Kamala Harris walked onto the ABC News debate stage with a mission: trigger…
Thought Leader: David Frum
Michael Baker: Ukraine’s Faltering Front, Polish Sabotage Foiled, & Trump vs. Kamala
In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief with Mike Baker: We examine Russia’s ongoing push in eastern Ukraine. While Ukrainian forces continue their offensive…
Thought Leader: Mike Baker
