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Guardian

Guardian

Did Reagan pave the way for Trump? ‘You can trace the linkages,’ says biographer

Guardian
Summary
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68% Informative

Max Boot is a former foreign policy adviser to the Republican presidential campaigns of John McCain , Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio .

In Reagan : His Life and Legend, Boot acknowledges the personal and political differences between Reagan and Trump .

He argues Reagan was both more ideological and more pragmatic than most people realise.

Despite the huge differences between Trump and Reagan , there are similarities and similarities.

Reagan and Trump were populists who reviled Washington , though the former did not refer to it as “the deep state” Both used the campaign slogan “ Make America great again” Reagan was hailed as the great communicator’ when asked how relevant his acting career had been for the presidency, he replied: “There have been times when I’ve wondered how you could do this job if you hadn’t been an actor’s.

Both Reagan and Trump demonstrated the power of personality to shape the Republican party in their own image.

Boot argues that Reagan paved the way for Trump , who is now well to the right of Reagan .

The next Republican leader of the party could be someone who has more moderate views than Trump .