We don’t know what crises are in the future that require a thoughtful, measured, patient president.  So look at the past for guidance.

 

President Kennedy confronted the Russians during the Cuban missle crisis but defused the situation with a blockade and a secret agreement to remove U.S. missles from Turkey.  What would Trump do?  He listens to “the generals” and declares war, and takes out Havana with a nuclear weapon that kills most of Cuba’s 11 million people, to show how tough he is.  The Russians counterstrike by obliterating New York City and Los Angeles, so about that many Americans die, too, in the first strike and tens of millions more with radiation poisoning.

 

President Nixon welcomed to the White House a Republican Congressional delegation, who told him he would be impeached and convicted if he remained in office.  Nixon recognized the inevitable and resigned.  What would Trump do?  He’d declare its time to change the subject by dropping nuclear weapons on Hanoi, killing most of its 5 million inhabitants.  Riots would break out nationwide.  Three U.S. Senators who oppose Trump would die under mysterious circumstances.  Trump would remain in office with an approval rating in the single digits.

 

President Reagan’s moral outrage at the crimes of the Soviet Union led him to go to Berlin and demand Secretary Gorbachev “tear down this wall.” Trump’s bellicose advisors insist the Russians are an immediate threat because they are better at espionage than we are.  Trump launches a nuclear strike on Moscow, killing 10 million innocents to “teach them a lesson.”  Soviet submarines retailiate with nuclear strikes on 20 U.S. cities, killing tens of millions.

 

When the time comes for an American president to act with prudence and wisdom Trump will be snacking on junk food and watching television.  Who doubts that Trump can be counted upon to escalate a crisis rather than to struggle to keep the peace?