Trump failed to hide his true character -- and he paid the price

Character counts. President Donald Trump’s failure to take that into account is a major reason he was not elected to a second term. It is his Achilles Heel.

In the business world where Trump came from, bad character can hide in the shadows. It can succeed from there. The searchlights there are dim. There a person of bad character, out of the fierce klieg lights of the presidency, can get away with lying cheating, damning , bullying, selfishness, narcissism, and lack of kindness, all long-held practices in the Trump portfolio.

But the four years in the presidency plays out in the full naked glare of the world spotlight. Every public act, every word uttered is heard, seen, broadcast, reported, or printed by a world media.

In the presidency, Trump lied. He lied incessantly, constantly, multiple times a day, so often that the media started keeping count, so often that one might legitimately speculate that he told more lies than all forty-four presidents before him combined.

He misled. He repeatedly made statements that were untrue and without proof. He misled when he said the pandemic was no worse than a common cold and would soon end--and did nothing to end  it. He misled after the election when he said the results were fraudulent, without following with evidence of any kind and in the face of emphatic denials from governors and election officials across the country.

He damned, demeaned, and demonized. In endless tweets, speeches, rallies, and statements he damned anybody who criticized him; demeaned anybody who crossed him and actively opposed him; and demonized Democrats, their candidate, and their party.

He bullied. His strong penchant for absolute loyalty was evident in what he said, how he said it, and how he acted. He was vengeful and menacing. He fired appointees he thought not loyal enough. Over organizations and states that did not conform to his policies, he wielded the club of withheld federal aid.

He was unkind. He showed little interest in the fate and welfare of the many immigrants from Latin America, their lives in danger, seeking asylum from oppressive governments at home.  He separated children from their parents at the border, some of whom might never see one another again. His preferred answer to legitimate marches for equal rights was armed put-down.

He was two-faced. His administration took positions that he himself would violate. In the pandemic, public health officials  called for people to wear face masks and practice social distancing, which Trump and his close administration allies openly violated and encouraged the supporters at his many political rallies to violate en masse.

He was narcissistic and selfish. There were many instances that he thought of himself as the greatest president in American history, while unarguably he was one of the worst. There was also evidence that he repeatedly put his own interests before his nation’s. His frantic obsession to be reelected, above all else, was evident and had, in his mind, priority over the good of the country.

This lack of character, starkly apparent to critics in his own country and in full view of the world, was instrumental in his failure--by over five million popular votes and by seventy-four electoral votes (306 to 232)-- to be reelected.

Character matters. Trump apparently doesn’t think so, and he paid the price.

John C. Waugh is a journalist-turned-historian and author of numerous books on the Civil War era, who has also consulted for organizations including the National Archives and Records Administration and PBS.