On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump will become the first President of the US not to have held any other political office or a position in the US Army before.
Trump’s acceptance speech was described as “pitch perfect” – he endorsed his opponent with sincerity, hit all the right notes, and steered clear of polemics or prejudice. It also reminded us that essentially Trump’s is the sort of brash American “success” story that has always had takers.
As a successful businessman, Trump had written several successful self-help ish books in the past, and we have compiled a handy list for you to refer to, along with helpful extracts. If Obama’s Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope lend a luminous glimpse into the outgoing President’s somewhat poetic sensibility, Trump’s peppy books quickly explain why white- as well as blue-collar America clung with such tenacity to his vision, multi-culti be damned. It’s the personal economy, stupid.
Nuance? What’s nuance?
Why We Want You to Be Rich (2007)
Co-written with super-successful self-help guru Robert T. Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad Poor Dad fame), Why We Want You To Be Rich is Trump’s helpful financial guide for the average American. It’s packed with tips and anecdotes and is direct – with capital D. There are lots of references to the authors’ grand successes “[B]oth men are teachers, not because they make need more money. They are both teachers because they are concerned about the fate of you and your family, this nation and the world…” – but after a point, the self-praise no longer annoys you, and you learn to enjoy the authenticity of the voice.
The founding fathers of America were so impressed by the five tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy that lived in what is today known as New England that they used the tribal model as the model for our democracy. That model elected representatives, and upper and lower house, and a supreme court (made up of entirely women).
At the same time the founders of America were copying the Iroquois form of democracy, the idea of a democracy and a middle class was still considered unrealistic in Europe – all while a powerful middle class and democratic society were blooming in the United States.
Today, in the Information Age, the middle class is slowly dying and so is democratic capitalism. Unlike any other time in history, there really is a very wide and growing gap between the haves and have nots. Are we going backward into the Agrarian Age, when there was no democracy and only two classes, or will we evolve into a new form of capitalism and democracy?
People expect their elected government officials to take care of the growing problems facing the poor and middle class. Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are not politicians (although Donald has considered running for president). They write this book as entrepreneurs, investors and educators.
Instead of promising to solve your problems, they want you to avoid becoming a victim of the problems. Do not expect your political and government officials to provide solutions. Do not think you are entitled to a secure, prosperous and healthy life. Instead Donald and Robert want you to become rich and become part of the solution to the problems we face as a nation and the world.
— 'Why We Want You to Be Rich', Plata Publishing
Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Successes (2008)
Written with Meredith McIver, Never Give Up is vintage Trump: brash, bouncy and brilliantly itself.
My situation in the early 1990s wasn’t looking great. I had billions in loans I couldn’t pay, and I had personally guaranteed $975 million of that debt. I could easily have gone bankrupt. This shouldn’t surprise anyone because I’d always done things in a big way, and so it follows that my highs would be followed by a suitably low low. That was a tremendous low. The banks were after me. People avoided me. There was a recession, and the real estate market was almost non-existent. This was not a good scenario.
Then in March 1991, both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times ran front page stories – on the same day! – detailing my predicament and the total financial ruin that would happen any moment. The radio stations got the story and the loss of my empire was big news around the world. They were sure I was finished. It would have made a fantastic story – except that it was happening to me.
That was the lowest moment I had yet encountered in my life. The phones in my office were even quiet, which had never happened before. In fact, I suddenly had a lot of quiet time to think, and I reviewed the situation objectively. It became clear to me that part of what got me into this situation was that I had lost my perspective and started to believe the news stories about me having “the Midas touch” when it came to business. In other words, I had become complacent. My momentum wasn’t where it should have been.
However, giving up is something that never entered my mind.
— 'Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Successes', Wiley
Think Like A Champion: An Informal Education in Business and Life (2010)
Trump (with Meredith McIver) compresses the lessons of his entire life into bite-sized pieces that make great reading for tomorrow’s (corporate) leaders. While we don’t particularly want to hang out with said leaders tomorrow or day after, what charmed us much was a reference to Stephen King in a valid lateral entry to a point about target demographics.
In the New York Times Book Review of September 30, 2007, is an essay by Stephen King on the short story. As you most likely know, Stephen King is the prolific and very successful author of sixty books and nearly 400 short stories. One of his short stories won the O. Henry Prize in 1996. His point in the essay is that in reviewing the state of the short story today, he notes that they seem to “feel show-offy, and written for editors and teachers, rather than for readers.” This is an insightful comment and it got me thinking about why we write and who we think our audience might be…
I may not be Stephen King, but I can appreciate what he does. You may not be a mogul yet, but I think you can appreciate the complexities of what I have to deal with daily. Stephen King is pointing out that the market for short stories is limited these days, so writers of short stories seem more determined than ever to make their mark – but on the editors who might be able to get their story into print, not the reader, who might be expecting to be entertained. A valid consideration, I will say. We all have target markets and demographics are important, no matter what your industry may be.
— 'Think Like A Champion: An Informal Education in Business and Life', Running Press Miniature Editions
Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America (2016)
“Making America Great Again” emerged as the chief mantra of the Donald Trump election campaign over the past one year – and today you would have seen countless caps and hoardings advertising this jingle. It derives from the manifesto-like book published first in 2015 (as Crippled America), and then jazzed up with a more optimistic title in 2016, Great Again, a book that that outlines every major point about Trump’s strategy, with trademark directness.
From building walls to keep away illegal immigrants to protectionism strategies that directly undercut America’s legendary “free trade” approach to the cosmos, it is the go-to book that might explain American domestic policy in the near future.
People say I have self-confidence. Who knows?
When I began speaking out, I was a realist.
I knew the relentless and incompetent naysayers of the status quo would anxiously line up against me, and they have:
The politicians who talk a great game in campaigns – and play like total losers when they try to actually govern because they can’t govern; they don’t know how to govern.
The lobbyists and special interests with their hands in our pockets on behalf of their clients or others.
The members of the media who are so far lost when it comes to being fair that they have no concept of the difference between “fact” and “opinion”.
The illegal immigrants who have taken jobs that should go to people here legally, while over 20 percent of Americans are currently unemployed or underemployed. Believe me, they are all over the place. I see them. I talk to them. I hug them. I hold them. They are all over the place.
Congress, which has been deadlocked for years and virtually unable to deal with any of our most pressing domestic problems, or even the most basic ones, such as passing a budget. Think of it: A little thing like passing the budget. They don’t even have a clue.
Meanwhile, the bedrock of this country – the middle class – and those 45 million Americans stuck in poverty have seen their incomes decline over the past 20 years. Understandably, their disenchantment and frustration at what’s happening grows everyday, and it gets worse and worse…
The idea of our American Greatness, of our country as the leader of the free and unfree world, has vanished.
Despite all these challenges – and actually because of the challenges – I decided to do something about it. I couldn’t stand to see what was happening to our great country. This mess calls for leadership in the worst way. It needs someone with common sense and business acumen, someone who can truly lead America back to what has made us great in the past.
— 'Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America', Simon & Schuster