So if you go back, I told you to read about William McKinley. William McKinley made this country rich. He was the most underrated president. And those who followed him took the money. Roosevelt took the money and built, you know, all this stuff with the parks and the dams. But McKinley made money and he was truly the king of tariffs.

Professor Rauchway sees a historical downside to this budding bromance.

The Tariff Act of 1890, called the “McKinley Tariff,” levied high taxes even on imports from industries like iron and steel, in which the United States was already very competitive. In fact, the entire economy had been booming for four years; there was no obvious need to stimulate trade. The American business had expanded rapidly in the West, attracting foreign capital – notably, but not exclusively, from British banks – to American securities.

Then came the McKinley tariff. Coming into force in October 1890, it increased the average tariff to almost 49 percent. It did its job by reducing imports and also reducing Treasury revenues, even though the Sherman Silver Purchase Act increased Treasury payments. The surplus accumulated under Cleveland quickly turned into a deficit under his successor, Benjamin Harrison.

Welcome to the Trump economy.

Beyond that, the U.S. government was in the position of buying silver with a gold-backed currency, thereby gradually reducing the amount of gold it held and increasingly undermining consumer confidence. investors in the dollar. Anticipating a crisis, British investors began to sell off American securities. Gold has left American coffers. By early 1893, American gold reserves fell below $100 million, triggering a widespread panic of stock sales and bank withdrawals. Bank runs and bankruptcies ensued, followed by business and agricultural bankruptcies. Double-digit unemployment has persisted for years. If we had reliable data from the 1890s, we would understand that the depression was as severe as that which followed the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Customs tariffs are useful tools in certain economic circumstances. But running a modern national economy with them is pure madness. However, the other evening, the former president* tossed around the idea of ​​doing No more federal income tax. Instantly, the libertarian right fell into spasms of ecstasy, and the 16th Amendment was trending worryingly on Xwitter. Of course, given the political era under discussion, we would do well to call upon the contemporary wisdom of Mr. Dooley, the sage of Archey Road, who had some thoughts on tariffs to share on mahogany.

“The other day my congressman gave me a copy of the tariff bill. He’s a good fellow, this congressman of mine. He takes good care of me and is interested. He knows what a great reader I am. I don’t care what I read. So he sent me a copy of the tariff bill and I studied it for a week. summer. It’s full of action and romance I don’t think about reading it since I used to read the Dead-wood Dick series I’m in favor of reading it on the 4th. July in place of the Declaration of Independence the kind of glorious government we live under, to see our beautiful Colombia put out its brave young arms and define the products of our soil, from steel rails to porous plasters, hooks and eyes, artificial from horsehair and bone coverings, which are found under the head in clothing and I suppose that’s a polite name for pants.

Perhaps to historically guard against possible ruin of the national economy, the former president* also made a habit of cosplaying the presidencies of George Washington and John Adams. Just the other day, in front of an audience of young conservatives in Georgia, he claimed to have “stopped the wars” with France.

‘You have no idea what I did in the White House,’ Trump said the crowd in Duluth, Georgia, at a Turning Point PAC rally. “I stopped the wars with France. France, you know the history of France. They were going to charge us, think about it, 25 percent. I have to protect American businesses whether we like it or not.” The former president then made fun of the French president’s accent Emmanuel Macronwhom he described as “wise”, and claimed to have ended a possible trade conflict in one day by threatening the French leader by telephone. “We are no longer a stupid country, Emmanuel,” Trump says. “He’s used to dealing with stupid people there.” We’ve had some beauties, the deals we allow.

Then, the former president’s campaign* filed a complaint with the FEC accusing the Labor Party in the United Kingdom, rigging of electoral dice. From Reuters:

Donald TrumpThe campaign accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the US presidential election after some volunteers traveled to help with the vice-presidential campaign Kamala Harris. The Republican candidate’s camp has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington, calling for an investigation into what it says were apparently illegal Labor contributions to the Harris campaign.

You may recall that President Washington, whose cabinet was hopelessly divided between Anglophiles and Francophiles when war broke out between Britain and Spain, was so exhausted and frustrated by European interference in American politics , that he made it his duty to warn the country. in his farewell speech.

Against the insidious tricks of foreign influence (I implore you, dear fellow citizens), the jealousy of a free people must be constantly alert, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most fatal enemies of the republican government… Our great rule of conduct with regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as few political ties as possible. To the extent that we have already made commitments, let them be fulfilled in perfect good faith. Here, let’s stop.

Of course, nothing stopped. John Adams succeeded Washington, stepping into the biggest pair of shoes in American history. Adams did not have the influence of the general. (Neither did anyone else.) Plus, Adams was a notorious pain in the ass to almost everyone he met. And, after entrusting the quasi-war with France to the presidency, Adams quickly found his cabinet completely shattered, his long friendship with Thomas Jefferson fractured, and his administration seemingly sliding inexorably from quasi-war with France toward reality. (Adams even began appearing in full military uniform, which must have been hilarious.) In response to the growing uproar, Congress passed and Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, the infamous attack on the Declaration rights to which Jefferson was referring. like “the reign of the witches”. Which brings us back to 2024 and the former president*. Speaking about his plan to round up “invading” migrants, he told an audience in Colorado.

“I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of the 18th, no, of 1798. Think about it, 1798. That’s when real politicians said, ‘We’re not going to play games.’ We have to go back to 1798.”

Back when they locked up political dissidents. Back when there was slavery and women were subjugated, and the national economy was driven by… customs tariffs! Of course, both of these elements of historical cosplay can be considered harmless. What worries me more is his nostalgia for 1930s Germany.

This article was originally published in the Last Call With Charles P. Pierce newsletter on October 26, 2024.