Quote:“Had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. And he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, [and] he said, ‘There’s no reason for this.’ People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it—why? People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"

(05-01-2017, 01:56 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/331349-trump-why-was-there-the-civil-war

Bits of an interview with Trump were released to the media, and some of his remarks on the Civil War and Andrew Jackson are leaving people confused.


Andrew Jackson died 16 years prior to the Civil War, so few are sure when he commented on it as Trump said he did.

Apparently people also do not ask "Why did we have a Civil War?" and "Why couldn't we work it out?"

It's likely that had Andrew Jackson been elected in 1860, there would not have been a Civil War. He was a Southern slave owner and the South would not have feared an end to the institution of slavery as they did with the election of Lincoln. Or it might have been because of his "big heart". He was the kind hearted man who helped Native Americans find new homes...

(05-01-2017, 01:56 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/331349-trump-why-was-there-the-civil-war

Bits of an interview with Trump were released to the media, and some of his remarks on the Civil War and Andrew Jackson are leaving people confused.

Andrew Jackson died 16 years prior to the Civil War, so few are sure when he commented on it as Trump said he did.

Apparently people also do not ask "Why did we have a Civil War?" and "Why couldn't we work it out?"

It's likely that had Andrew Jackson been elected in 1860, there would not have been a Civil War. He was a Southern slave owner and the South would not have feared an end to the institution of slavery as they did with the election of Lincoln. Or it might have been because of his "big heart". He was the kind hearted man who helped Native Americans find new homes...

(05-01-2017, 05:30 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: does anyone think George W. Bush is smarter than Trump? 

(05-01-2017, 05:30 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Given Jackson's temperament and disregard for political norms it's not surprising at all that Trump holds him in esteem.  This thread raises a point though.  For all the talk from the left about how unintelligent, and thus dangerous, Trump is, does anyone think George W. Bush is smarter than Trump? 

(05-01-2017, 05:30 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Given Jackson's temperament and disregard for political norms it's not surprising at all that Trump holds him in esteem.  This thread raises a point though.  For all the talk from the left about how unintelligent, and thus dangerous, Trump is, does anyone think George W. Bush is smarter than Trump? 

(05-02-2017, 08:06 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: Yea. From everything that I have read, W devoured books in his spare time. Trump does not read much. When asked what he is currently reading, he said "I love to read. Actually, I am looking at a book, I'm reading a book, I am trying to get started. Every time I do about half a page, I get a phone call that there's some emergency, this or that." Then he went on about cutting costs. He watches plenty of Fox and Friends though.

So, yea, I think W is a more intelligent person.

President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the Civil War started, saw it coming and was angry. Would never have let it happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017

(05-01-2017, 05:30 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Given Jackson's temperament and disregard for political norms it's not surprising at all that Trump holds him in esteem.  This thread raises a point though.  For all the talk from the left about how unintelligent, and thus dangerous, Trump is, does anyone think George W. Bush is smarter than Trump? 

(05-02-2017, 08:48 AM)GMDino Wrote: I always thought Bush was "dumb" in the sense that he wasn't able to get his ideas from his brain to his mouth and he was unprepared to be President at all.

Trump is a special kind of dumb.  The kind who insists he is right all the time even when he is not.

(05-02-2017, 10:36 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I want to say that I don't think Trump is unintelligent, I think he is ignorant to how government works. I don't like Trump, I think he is a con-man and has no business in the role he is in, but you still have to have some intelligence to get there. I don't think he has a thirst for knowledge. I think he gets distracted easily and isn't willing to put in the effort to really learn the details he needs to know even at high levels. That isn't a lack of intelligence, it's just his personality.

Bush II had a personality problem, as well, and that was letting those around him really shape his policy for the first bit of his time in office. It wasn't until the last two years or so that we really saw him put his own ideology to work. At least based on my opinions of it. He didn't have the ignorance, though, that Trump displays and he saw value in learning.

Anyway, I don't think either has a lack of intelligence. It just boils down to values.

Quote:And he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War,

(05-02-2017, 10:45 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Also well stated.  I find it interesting how some people look on W with an odd form of nostalgia when, in many, if not most, ways his politics are at least as conservative as Trump's.  I think the only area in which Trump exceeds Bush is in immigration enforcement.  Bush is certainly a more "pro-life" person than Trump.  I suppose that Trump's extreme behavior has provoked extreme reactions.  It is interesting that Trump's opponents have, in many ways, succumbed to the exact same behavior that they claim to abhor in Trump.

(05-01-2017, 05:30 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Given Jackson's temperament and disregard for political norms it's not surprising at all that Trump holds him in esteem.  This thread raises a point though.  For all the talk from the left about how unintelligent, and thus dangerous, Trump is, does anyone think George W. Bush is smarter than Trump? 

(05-01-2017, 05:13 PM)Matt_Crimson Wrote: Trump should really stop acting like he knows what he's talking about. I'd respect the guy more if he admitted he doesn't know all that much about early American History.

(05-02-2017, 11:51 AM)Millhouse Wrote: What I dont get is why Trump thinks Jackson would have prevented the war from happening. Would he have abolished slavery & get the rest of the South's approval in doing so? I dont think so.