Log in Subscribe

A few of our stories and columns are now in front of the paywall. We at The Chief remain committed to independent reporting on labor and civil service. It's been our mission since 1897. You can have a hand in ensuring that our reporting remains relevant in the decades to come. Consider supporting The Chief, which you can do for as little as $3.20 a month.

A third and fourth term

Posted

To the editor:

FDR got a fourth term, so why shouldn’t Trump?

In the leadup to his second term, Trump joked that he would be a “dictator on day one.”

Nobody is laughing now. He hasn’t stopped dictating since day one.

Today Trump “jokes” with the press that he might win a “fourth” term of office in 2028.

Plenty of things suggest he is serious. First, he is re-building D.C. in his own image like lifetime kings did in their capital cities: renovating Dulles; bringing in the military to make the city safe; planning new monuments like the Arc de Trump and renovating old ones like the Reflecting Pool; hanging huge graven image banners of himself on government buildings.

Consider this. He is undertaking a billion-dollar East Wing renovation of his residence that won’t be completed until well after 2028.

He is taking more opportunities to show off his “Trump 2028” hat.

He is visiting the doctor a lot to try to get ahead of any chronic diseases that might befall him.

Hmmm . . .

Kimball Shinkoskey

Comments

6 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • Joel Frank

    Under FDR there was no prohibition to run as many times as one chooses. BTW: Trump is no FDR ! !

    Thursday, August 20 Report this

  • Valete

    The "day-one dictator" narrative stems from a Fox News Town Hall on December 5, 2023.

    Sean Hannity pressed Donald Trump to pledge he would never abuse power.

    Trump deflected with political theater.

    He joked he would act as a dictator for just twenty-four hours.

    He limited that window to closing the southern border and drilling for oil.

    He used this same wit at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

    He wore a "Trump 2028" hat.

    He jokingly announced a fourth-term bid to save the press's failing ratings.

    Critics panicked again over his White House campus renovations.

    Detractors called the upgrades a "kingship."

    The real reason was national security.

    The project replaced an old bunker with a secure subterranean complex.

    It protects future executives and visiting dignitaries.

    The essayist has a hyper-partisan imagination.

    He takes a punchline and bomb shelter blueprints to build a horror story about American royalty.

    It is modern political fiction.

    It is not real.

    It triggers panic to feed a political agenda.

    The author’s essay is riddled in half-truths.

    Is Trump a modern-day FDR?

    Who knows?

    “The Shadow knows."

    Thursday, August 20 Report this

  • krell1349

    Trump is no FDR, you said it. His 2 terms are the worst in American history. 47 at the bottom and 45 next to the bottom.

    Friday, August 21 Report this

  • Valete

    The Irreplaceable Man

    The United States Constitution, with a quiet and deliberate wisdom, limits a president to two terms.

    To stretch this to a third or a fourth would be to misread the very nature of our Republic, which relies not on the indispensable man, but on the steady rotation of common citizens. A third term introduces a heavy, permanent weight into a system designed for a light touch. When a leader lingers too long in the executive mansion, the office begins to take on the shape of the person, rather than the person matching the dignity of the office.

    We do not need a permanent fixture at the head of our affairs; we need the refreshing assurance that power, like the seasons, must inevitably turn over to something new.

    Friday, August 21 Report this

  • Valete

    ….Until next week…Have a good weekend…enjoy the beauty of creation...

    Friday, August 21 Report this

  • krell1349

    Yes, something new, not MAGA. The Republicans are being brought down due to Trump. The Democrats will take the House and maybe the Senate. Yes, time for something new. Trump jokes about a third or fourth term, but if he could stay, he would.

    Saturday, August 22 Report this