Andrew Jackson had some political experience, but he wasn't elected for that. He was elected due to a) Martin Van Buren's incredible political machine, and b) Jackson's war record. (I doubt if many electors back then even knew he was a senator). Lincoln---forget for a moment the President Lincoln and look at 1860 candidate Lincoln---had very little political experience. A House term, and a couple of terms in the IL House. Several failed races. A total unknown going into the convention.
The Rockefeller comparison is flat-out wrong. Rockefeller ran entirely against "the people," certainly espoused NOTHING they wanted. He was, from beginning to end, the GOPe insider. Trump is entirely the outsider, and has greatly profited from that underdog status. Indeed, it is remarkable that a billionaire can achieve an underdog status, but he does so by constantly siding with the conservative rank and file on most issues, particularly those they seem most immediately concerned about, namely immigration, guns, and taxes.
Where he IS like Jackson is in his forthright speech. "The Bank is a monster, sir, and I will kill it!" and telling Calhoun that he would hang him if he continued to oppose the Tariff of Abominations (which Calhoun himself wrote).
Trump represents a complete rejection of the notion that the political "experts" know what they are doing. Even if (and I don't think this is at all what he says) Trump's approach is "we can do things smarter" at the very least the message most Americans hear is, "We who have run businesses can at least do things better than the idiots who never worked for a living."
He is, like Jackson and TR and Truman and Reagan waging a war on speech-codes and obfuscation. But most of all, like TR and Jackson and Reagan, he is a man of action. Of course no one knows if that action can translate into political action, but at least he has a track record whereas, unfortunately, Rubio, Cruz, Paul all have a record to the present of being unable to do anything but protest, while the governors have not convinced anyone that their actions at much lower levels will translate to a bigger stage.
So, in short, no. We haven't ever seen anyone like Trump.
Good post and thoughts. You must be a history professor or something. ;-)
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>> “We who have run businesses can at least do things better than the idiots who never worked for a living.” <<
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A thought that anyone who has run a business, or even tried to, can echo.
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