Where Fred Trump Went Wrong
There’s not a lot of good press about the Donald’s daddy. Apparently he was not a nice man, nor was he a very good father.
That’s not to say he didn’t mean well for his children. But in raising kids, as in life, it’s not the intention that matters, it’s what you actually do. And when it came to raising little Donnie, Fred screwed up royally in at least two critical ways.
First, Fred didn’t teach little Donnie about right and wrong, only about winning. The old wisdom “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game” was turned on its head. Instilling that kind of perverse mentality is the surest way a parent can guarantee the kid will turn out bad.
But even worse, Fred shielded little Donnie from consequences. When young Donald got thrown out of one school after another, Fred would buy still one more. When there appeared some risk that Donald might have to go to war, Fred bought a doctor to find some temporary bone spurs. As each of the Donald’s serial business dabblings went down the drain, Daddy would step in with money and lawyers to save the sorry hide of his problem child. Donnie learned these lessons well– fake a “win” at any cost, never admit failure no matter how obvious, let somebody else pay the price, then bluster, buy, blame, and bully your way out of responsibility.
Those of us who are parents recognize that these are dreadful things to teach your kid. They inevitably produce a social and moral failure. The rule is equally true in business and in public life. Holding disruptive and dysfunctional people to account is never pleasant, but always necessary. Spoiled brats, be they in the playroom, the workplace, or the Oval Office, harm and degrade us all.