“Ghosts Of History”: Why America Recoils From Donald TrumpThe revulsion evoked by Donald Trump as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Cleveland goes far beyond his speech, which was memorable only for its angry mood, not its vapid content. Washington refused to accept a crown, leaving office voluntarily so that the new nation could find its way toward a democratic succession. To Washington, Trump’s vengeful and bloodthirsty attitude toward the nation’s enemies, real or perceived, would be as loathsome as his monumental narcissism. Like Washington and Lincoln, FDR would have regarded Trump and all that surrounds him as abhorrent. It is not that any of these presidents was perfect, or that America has adhered in every hour to the ideals they tried to uphold.