“Trumpism before Trump” A Genealogy of the Trumpist Political Appeal Julian Jansson Lindseth Master’s thesis History Department of Archeology, Conservation and History University of Oslo Spring 2018 “Trumpism before Trump” A Genealogy of the Trumpist Political Appeal Julian Jansson Lindseth II © Julian Jansson Lindseth 2018 “Trumpism before Trump” A Genealogy of the Trumpist Political Appeal Julian Jansson Lindseth http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo III Abstract Donald Trump won the American presidency in 2016. His political appeal became known as trumpism. This thesis defines key elements of this political appeal, and then searches for those elements throughout modern American conservative politicians and intellectuals. The elements of trumpism are nationalism, laissez-faires free marketism and populism. The thesis searches – by the usage of the genealogical method – for these elements in the writings of six modern conservative figures: Senator Robert Taft, William Buckley, Senator Barry Goldwater, James Burnham, President Ronald Reagan and Patrick Buchanan. My research shows that the trumpist political appeal has its origins in the writings and works of all of these persons. In sum, this thesis shows the modern American conservative genealogy of the ideas proposed by the trumpist political appeal. IV Acknowledgments I would like to thank my tutor, Douglas Rossinow. His brilliant insight into American conservatism, his thorough feedbacks and interesting viewpoints have all motivated me greatly since he became my tutor in the spring of 2017. Many thanks to my mother and father, Gudrun and Kai, for encouraging me all the way through this process, and for giving me all the love a son could wish for. A special thanks to my father for asking tough questions and giving sage advice. Thank you Ragni – my domestic partner – for holding my feet to the fire while writing, and also for understanding and accepting my retreat from society the last two month before this thesis’ deadline. Finally, thank you Martin, Bendik and Simon for our ever stronger comradery throughout these five years of studies. V Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... IV Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... V Contents .................................................................................................................................... VI 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The thesis’ goal ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Genealogy .................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Primary Sources ........................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Secondary Sources ....................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Limitation on Scope and Scale .................................................................................... 9 1.6 Structure..................................................................................................................... 10 1.7 Writing Contemporary and Modern History ............................................................. 11 2 Background – Theoretical and Contextual Framework ................................................... 13 2.1 Scholarship on Trumpism .......................................................................................... 13 2.2 Modern Conservatism in the US ............................................................................... 13 2.3 Political Appeal: Political Tactics or Expression of Ideas? ....................................... 15 2.4 Nationalism, Free-Marketism, Populism and other Terms ........................................ 16 2.4.1 Nationalism ........................................................................................................ 16 2.4.2 Anti-Globalism ................................................................................................... 17 2.4.3 Free-Marketism .................................................................................................. 17 2.4.4 Populism ............................................................................................................. 17 2.4.5 Conservatism – Or “the Right” .......................................................................... 18 3 Trumpism ......................................................................................................................... 20 3.1 Nationalism ................................................................................................................ 20 3.1.1 Who are the Americans? .................................................................................... 20 3.1.2 Anti-Globalism ................................................................................................... 22 3.2 Laissez-Faires Marketplace ....................................................................................... 26 3.3 Populism .................................................................................................................... 29 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 31 VI 4 Nationalism ...................................................................................................................... 33 4.1 “Whose Country is it anyway?” ................................................................................ 34 4.2 Views on Immigration ............................................................................................... 40 4.3 Free Trade – Or the lack thereof ................................................................................ 42 4.4 Wars, Interventionism and Global Cooperation ........................................................ 44 4.5 Nationalism after the Cold War ................................................................................. 49 4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 50 5 The Laissez-Faires Free Market ....................................................................................... 51 5.1 The Free Market and the State ................................................................................... 51 5.2 Laissez-Faires’ Shortcomings.................................................................................... 60 5.3 Conservative View on Labor Unions ........................................................................ 61 5.4 Reagan – The Corporate Conservative? .................................................................... 64 5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 65 6 Populism ........................................................................................................................... 67 6.1 Robert Taft ................................................................................................................. 67 6.2 Barry Goldwater ........................................................................................................ 69 6.3 Ronald Reagan ........................................................................................................... 70 6.4 James Burnham.......................................................................................................... 73 6.4.1 Samuel Francis ................................................................................................... 74 6.5 Patrick Buchanan ....................................................................................................... 76 6.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 79 7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 82 7.1 Trend or continuity? .................................................................................................. 84 8 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................... 86 8.1 Documents ................................................................................................................. 86 8.2 Books ......................................................................................................................... 86 8.3 Digital Archives ......................................................................................................... 87 8.4 Speeches .................................................................................................................... 87 8.5 Journal Articles .......................................................................................................... 88 8.6 Digital Newspaper Articles ....................................................................................... 88 8.7 Miscellaneous ...........................................................................................................