How This 19th Century President Can Give Us a Dire Hint Toward Our Future

Art by Joseph Keppler Jr., 1908

The practice of utilizing tariffs against perceived foes has become commonplace. The proposal of expanding United States territory hangs over the country, invoking the idea of Manifest Destiny. China is viewed as a potential dominant superpower, with United States policy shifting to handle its emergence on the global stage.

While these adages may sound familiar to those currently living under the 47th president, this reality was also the truth to Americans over one hundred years ago, when the same promises and threats were issued straight from the Oval Office.

Donald Trump has leaned upon many of these policies within the first month of his presidency, attempting to unhold promises he made upon the campaign trail. While many have looked to these previous promises, along with his actions during his first term, for guidance, the path of a former president whom Trump openly admires could provide even stronger clues toward the future of America, and the dire consequences that come with it.

President Donald Trump has often discussed his love for our 25th president William McKinley, even renaming Alaska’s Mount Denali back to Mount McKinley after President Obama officially recognized the native name of the mountain. When discussing the 25th president, Trump described him as a man who “made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent,” using that logic as extra justification for his fiscal policy.

Much of his frequent discussion may not be simple admiration.

William McKinley was also a massive proponent of tariffs in and out of his administration, with the McKinley Tariff of 1890 prior to his presidency serving as much of the basis behind his economic policy. Their own platform, one which the current Republican party appears to be mirroring, established (in their eyes) that these tariffs “[would] protect American labor from degradation and the wage level of other lands” — promises Trump has echoed. Many of these tariffs have been targeted upon countries like China, but others are threatened against countries such as Mexico and Canada that have forever been seen as American allies.

Alongside this, William McKinley was responsible for a sizable amount of US expansion, forcibly annexing the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Hawaii as territories under his administration. Similarly, Donald Trump has toyed with the idea of expanding United States territory, discussing the idea of purchasing Greenland and assuming American control over the Panama Canal. He has even gone so far as to say the United States should annex Canada to make it the “51st state,” proposing falsely that the United States subsidizes Canada and the country would be “better off” under our control.

Trump draws upon these similarities for one vital reason: He views that era of America as an era of greatness and prosperity, hoping to invoke the strategies used there to bring about his supposed golden age. However, the repercussions of this era may provide clues toward what may come next.

The tariffs implemented by William McKinley, specifically the Tariff of 1890, were deeply unpopular with Americans at the time, the steep price increase of many goods harming their livelihoods. The Democrats won the midterms in a complete landslide, even managing to vote then Representative McKinley out of power in Congress. After attempting many of these tariffs once more while in office, he eventually turned away from them as cost of living rose, shifting more towards free trade with instances like his open door policy with China.

Unlike him, however, Trump has continued to dig in his heels, recently announcing high tariffs on both steel and aluminum.

Despite how often McKinley justified his annexations as almost accidental, historians and peoples view these as acts of American imperialism, forcibly asserting control. These annexations were more popular with Americans at the time, and the current president is still following a 19th-century playbook. While Donald Trump plays coy with these threats, they must be taken seriously, as they are antagonistic toward many nations that we should perceive as allies. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines were all acquired in an attempt to wrench control of them away from Spain. Trump has similarly argued the need to take territories under a more rightful rule. Wars, both trade and traditional, arose from the desire to assert Western dominance, and if Donald Trump follows that path once more, then a future of conflict is all but certain.

History may not always repeat itself, but it does have a tendency to rhyme. While Trump may be following McKinley’s playbook, it is his staying of the course and situational deviations that make such acts dangerous. Donald Trump follows a playbook that was not only cast aside as unfeasible, but no longer fits within the context of the modern world. Our place as a global superpower could permanently be damaged, along with our relations with those who we should be embracing as allies.

By barreling down the 25th president’s path without adjustment, Donald Trump risks throwing the entire country into disarray.