Using history to explain Trump

The election of Donald Trump has been, for many people, surprising and unexpected. Analysts have tended to turn to history and the past to provide some sort of guide to understanding one of the more unusual figures to enter the White House.

It is, of course, by no means uncommon for political commentators to use history to identify where political figures come from in American politics: whether, for instance, they are “big government liberals” or “Reaganite conservatives.” Trump is a rather different case since he is a New York billionaire rather than professional politician and has presented himself as a figure outside the mainstream political “establishment.”