Trumpism Before Trump: A Genealogy of the Trumpist Political Appeal

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.