Been finding out a bit about President Jackson, and in many parallel ways, Andrew Jackson and Donald Trump are cut from very similar cloth.
Promoted the executive branch above the Congress and the SCOTUS. Racist to the core showing no mercy on the Cherokee leading to the trail of tears. A populist of the first order. Used the available print media to promote the cult of personality.
Add your own parallel or vociferously argue against the comparison.
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Trump was reading Jackson's biography early in his first Presidency. I think the similarities are deliberate.
Of course the main difference is Jackson was a general and Trump is a businessman.
Polk is also worth considering. He was a Jacksonian lawyer who Presided over the Mexican American War.
@AThousandYoung saidTrump reads books?
Trump was reading Jackson's biography early in his first Presidency. I think the similarities are deliberate.
Of course the main difference is Jackson was a general and Trump is a businessman.
Polk is also worth considering. He was a Jacksonian lawyer who Presided over the Mexican American War.
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@AThousandYoung said
I read it too and its sequel.
Few people know there was a second book.
It's called "Second Book" in German - Zweites Buch. Contrasting the two books is an interesting exercise.
Excerpts from Gemini AI
Prompt: compare and contrast Mein Kampf with Zweites Buch
Mein Kampf (1925/26)
Primary Tone: Autobiographical, emotional, and polemical.
Main Objective: Domestic mobilization and "Worldview" (Weltanschauung).
Target Enemy: France (The "Mortal Enemy" ) and Jews.
Zweites Buch (1928)
Primary Tone: Clinical, analytical, and strategically focused.
Main Objective: Foreign policy and long-term geopolitical planning.
Target Enemy: The United States (The "Fourth Stage" of conflict).
Points of Contrast (Differences)
1. The Geopolitical Horizon
While Mein Kampf is largely obsessed with the immediate "humiliation" of the Treaty of Versailles and the rivalry with France, Zweites Buch looks much further ahead. In the second book, Hitler identifies the United States as the ultimate global threat. He argues that European nations must unify (under German leadership) to compete with the American "efficiency" and resource wealth.
2. The Role of Great Britain and Italy
In Mein Kampf, Hitler expresses a desire for an alliance with Britain but remains somewhat vague. By Zweites Buch, his foreign policy is more refined:
Italy: He doubling down on the necessity of an alliance with Mussolini, even if it meant abandoning Germans in the South Tyrol.
Britain: He views Britain as a natural racial ally whose maritime interests do not conflict with Germany’s land-based expansion.
4. Economic Philosophy
In Zweites Buch, Hitler dives deeper into "autarky" (economic self-sufficiency). He rejects the idea of increasing exports to solve Germany's problems, arguing instead that the only solution is the physical conquest of land to produce food and raw materials, thereby insulating Germany from global market fluctuations.