The downward slide to Donald Trump began in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan to the highest office in the land. Every U.S. President, Republican and Democrat, has accepted the post-Reagan paradigm and, in his own way, has operated within it. No post-Reagan President has attempted to bring an end to the right-wing revanchement that Reagan inaugurated. Unless and until the American people are able to muster the political will to re-trace the steps of two generations of Chief Executives (Reagan-Bush I-Clinton-Bush II-Obama-Trump) and reverse the damage done at each step, the American tragedy will continue to unfold.
