Chapter 2
Study Guide by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
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Chapter 2: The Character of a Man
This chapter begins with a description of the White House, and in particular the Oval Office that fills visitors with a sense of respect. The author says it is hard to shake the feeling of reverence regardless of how many times you enter the room. That's until you hear Trump's irreverent comments that occur on a daily basis. The Trump most people do not see is a red-faced man, consumed with fury and teetering on the limits of self-control. In the history of the American democracy we have had uninterested, inexperienced, and amoral presidents, but not all at once. Donald Trump is not like other presidents. The president's character is important and it is every American's responsibility to assess their leader's disposition and moral qualities in deciding if that person is suited for the role.
Defining Character
The qualities of a leader's character involve wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance. A useful guide was developed by Cicero. The qualities include:
1. Understanding and acknowledging truth,
2. Maintaining good fellowship with men, giving to every one his due, and keeping faith in contracts and promises,
3. Greatness and strength of a lofty and unconquered mind, and
4. The order and measure that constitute moderation and temperance.
Does the president's character matter? The answer is definitely yes because we rely on the president to manage the US government, to lead the nation through crises, to set an agenda to move the country forward, and to be a role model, particularly for young people. A person's character is tested when they are given power, and the results are revealing. The presidents character and reputation will in time cast a shadow across all Americans. As you read this summary, ask yourself, Is Donald Trump's character and reputation who we are? Is this who we want to be?
The President's Wisdom
Wisdom, according to Cicero does not mean knowing all. Instead it means learning the truth through an eagerness to seek the facts to get at the root of an issue. A leader should not fall for fake news and assume that something is true when it is false. Does Donald Trump possess these characteristics of wisdom?
The president came to office with little knowledge of how the government works because he's never served in government. But the main problem is that he has done very little to learn about how to do his job. He barely reads, if at all. He has said that he has no time for reading. He leaves halfway through meetings with world leaders because he's bored. He spends his time watching cable news, tweeting, making phone calls, and playing golf on weekends. Trump says he doesn't need to read to make informed decisions because he has a lot of common sense, a lot of business ability, and is very intelligent. He says he has a good instinct for the job and consults with himself. He tells us that he is really smart, but intelligence is one of those things that, if you insist you have it, you probably don't. Trump frequently claims to be an expert on just about everything. Trump claims that nobody knows more about campaign finance, the courts, trade, taxes, ISIS, the US government, and technology than I do. However, his own top officials describe him as an "idiot" and a "moron" with the understanding of a "fifth or sixth grader." "He stumbles, slurs, gets confused, is easily irritated, and has trouble synthesizing information, not occasionally, but with regularity." He has trouble remembering what he has said, or what he has been told. He also flunks the "fake news" test. His reputation is based on disinformation (Questioning Barack Obama's birth certificate, insinuating Ted Cruz's father was involved in the Kennedy assassination, that Joe Scarborough might have been involved in a former interns death, and that Muslin Americans near New York City celebrated after 9/11). The president frequently spreads false claims by re-tweeting fake news while being its biggest critic. It is clear that Trump doesn't meet the requirements of someone who seeks the truth, or someone who isn't easily deceived, or doesn't spread false information. He definitely fails the test of a wise man.
The President's Sense of Justice
According the Cicero the concept of justice involves how an individual treats other people. Does he give people what they deserve, keep his promises and abide by his contracts with others? Is he kind and generous?
Donald Trump talks a lot about being fair or unfair, but it tends to be about whether he is being treated fairly. The president complains about his media coverage and his critics. He sends White House aides out to punish his critics for what he thinks is unfair to him. Trump is more accurately described as ruthless rather than just. He has tweeted, "When someone attacks me, I always attack back... except 100x more." Trump attacks anyone he doesn't agree with (e.g., soccer star Megan Rapinoe, the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederisken, the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell), and gives his targets childish nicknames (e.g., Da Nang Dick Blumenthal, Pocahontas Elizabeth Warren, Low Energy Jeb Bush, Slimeball Jim Comey, Dumb as a Rock Mika Brzezinski, Dumbest Man on Television Don Lemon, Fat Jerry Nadler, Little Marco Rubio). Trump is a bully who intimidates people to get what he wants. He continues to tweet about Hillary Clinton and has talked about investigating and prosecuting her because he wants total defeat of his opponents.
To answer the question of whether Donald Trump keeps his promises and agreements, consider the more than 3,500 lawsuits against Trump's businesses over three decades involving allegations of stiffed contractors, unpaid employees, and broken agreements all reported in USA Today. In addition, his businesses have received repeated citations for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and failing to pay overtime and the minimum wage.
To answer the question of whether Donald Trump is generous, consider that most of Trump's charitable giving is done by the Trump Foundation funded by outside donors. But in December 2018 the foundation was forced to dissolve after the state discovered "a shocking pattern of illegality" including providing funding for Trump's businesses and personal interests (e.g., a ten thousand dollar six-foot portrait of himself). Trump does give his $400,000 presidential salary to various causes, but recipients frequently must stage photo ops with the checks prominently featuring his name to show their gratitude.
Trump is not an unselfish billionaire or a paragon of justice. Instead he is a vindictive, self-promoting person who spends most of his time attacking others to advance his own interests. Trump "emphasizes combat over peacemaking, bullying over negotiating, malice over clemency, and recognition over true generosity." Trump is clearly an unjust man.
The President's Courage
Cicero defined courage as the "virtue which champions the cause of right." Courage includes taking both credit and blame for one's actions, but the president does everything to avoid blame to avoid being labeled "the loser." Trump pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare, but when the legislation failed he blamed weak senators and privately blamed his staff. Another example of Trump's lack of courage includes how he avoided the draft with four education deferments and a medical excuse (bone spurs) that the daughters of the podiatrist who made the diagnosis and the president's former lawyer said was "concocted."
The checklist for a courageous person also includes resistance to mob mentality, avoidance of obsession with money and pleasure, and stability in a crisis. Trump fuels mob behavior and is obsessed with public opinion. The president sees polls and polling as a demonstration of loyalty, not as scientific measures of the country's mood. Some quotes from Trump include the following:
"The point is that you can't be too greedy."
"Part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich."
"You have to be wealthy in order to be great."
When faced with a crisis the president becomes "unglued and bombastic." "Trump is not brave, nor unswayed by the crowd, nor uncommanded by money and pleasure, nor stable through crisis." The most powerful person in the world is a "pretender to courage" and that should be concerning to everyone.
The President's Temperance
Cicero explains that temperance involves showing restraint and modesty, and conducting oneself in an inoffensive manner. A person of temperance is not careless or impulsive, does not behave rashly without consideration and care, and is not readily provoked by criticism.
There are numerous examples of Donald Trump's unseemly, crude, vulgar, and immodest behavior. His misogynistic treatment of women provides a notable example. Trump has referred to women as a beautiful piece of ass, bimbo, great in bed, a little chubby, not hot, crazed, psycho, lonely, fat, fat ass, stupid, nasty woman, dog, ugly face, dogface, horseface, and disgusting. Referring to Hillary Clinton, Trump said, "Does she look presidential, fellas? Give me a break." Perhaps his most famous quote is from his conversation with NBC's Billy Bush, "I don't even wait. And when you are a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by approximately two dozen women. His strategy is to "deny, deny, deny and push back on these women." According to Trump, "You've got to deny anything that's said about you. Never admit."
Considering another aspect of temperance, Trump is notorious for making rash decisions and being easily distracted. He is channel-surfing his way through the presidency showing his obsession with television programing he doesn't like. A recent twitter alert involved his criticism of George Conway (husband to advisor Kellyanne Conway) referring to George as "a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!" This was a distraction because there were more important things he should have been concerned with. These outburst are constant. On the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the president was railing against an unfavorable opinion poll about who would beat him in the General election. Calm leaders do not let every criticism distract them from doing their job, but Trump takes it all personally and cannot let any criticism go unanswered.
An episode that captures Donald Trump's character is his response to the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The white supremacist groups including neo-Nazi, neo-Confederacy, and Ku Klux Klan were protesting the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from a park. There was a counter-protest made up of many concerned groups. A self-identified white supremacist deliberately rammed his vehicle into a crowd of counter-protestors injuring more than thirty people and killing Heather Heyer. Trump responded that there was "no place for that kind of violence in America." And he condemned the hate and "the violence on many sides" suggesting that the counter-protestors were also to blame. There was an immediate bipartisan outcry. White supremacists hailed Trump's statement in their publications. Top CEOs began resigning from the administration's advisory councils in protest. The president yielded to the criticism and gave a new public statement signaling out hate groups, but later in a press conference said that "the Unite the Right" rally included some "very fine people" and that the press had treated them unfairly. Trump went further and blamed both sides for the violence including the counter-protestors he labeled as the "alt-left." Trump's comments about Charlottesville took the cake. They were repugnant, and left a permanent scar on the Trump presidency. Trump is not a man of great character, or good character. Trump is a man with no character.
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Go to the next Chapter. Chapter 3: Fake Views. (Summary).
Related summaries:
Crossan, M., W. Furlong and R. D. Austin. 2022. Make leader character your competitive edge. MIT Sloan Management Review (Fall): 1-12. This article includes a leader character framework. (Summary).
Hornsey, M. J. and K. S. Fielding. 2017. Attitude roots and Jiu Jitsu persuasion: Understanding and overcoming the motivated rejection of science. American Psychologist 72(5): 459-473. (Summary).
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Policies of a Second Trump Presidency.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Summary of Trump's Seven Part Plan to Overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
Rosenfeld, G. D. (Editor) and J. Ward (Editor). 2023. Fascism in America: Past and Present. Cambridge University Press. (Summary).
Unger, C. 2018. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia. Dutton. (Note).
