The greatest political comeback in history
Donald J. Trump, the 45th and soon to be 47th president of the United States, makes a strong case in that his political comeback was the greatest in American, or perhaps all, of history.
Four years ago, he had been decisively defeated by Joe Biden as president. He would soon be impeached for the second time over the Jan. 6 takeover of the Capitol a week before leaving office, the only president to have that distinction.
Over the next several years, Trump would face separate indictments on four different cases that would lead to trials. Of the four, he would be found guilty by a New York jury of 34 charges of falsifying records to conceal possibly damaging information about corrupting the 2020 election. And he was ordered to pay millions in sexual abuse cases.
One of the cases regarded mishandling and wrongful possession of classified material. But Florida judge appointed by him, Aileen Cannon, tried to dismiss the case after the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Since the Justice Department had determined no sitting president could be indicted, special counsel Jack Smith dropped two of the cases.
And the fourth case against him in Georgia for illegally influencing the 2020 election was suspended over misconduct by the prosecution after it was learned that District Attorney Fani Willis had a romantic relationship with one of her prosecuting attorneys.
Trump was able to turn all these cases in his favor claiming the weaponization of justice was being used against him through what was called “lawfare.” The public responded. The more allegations that were filed, the more popular Trump became. In the New York case, District Attorney Alvin Bragg was repeatedly attacked for turning what should have been misdemeanor charges into felonies. And many Americans believed this was a travesty.
From what was a low point in his life including a mug shot taken when he was arraigned in Georgia, Trump retreated to his Florida palace at Mar-a-Lago. However, Trump was undaunted. He used the mug shot on shirts for sale and put together a de facto team in waiting and began planning for 2024.
Despite all these obstacles, Trump succeeded in unanimously winning the nomination for president.
Then, in a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024, an assassin’s bullet came within an inch or two of killing the former president and instead nicked his right ear. As the Secret Service came to his aid and formed a human shield around him, Trump raised a triumphant fist in the air and yelled “Fight, fight.” That became the iconic image of the election.
Two months later on Sept. 15, a second attempt was foiled on his Florida golf course. However, many believed that divine intervention was responsible for saving Trump’s life.
No doubt Trump had strong reasons for his belief that his comeback from ignominy and disgrace to winning the presidency a second time, was the greatest in history. In that regard he had two American competitors: Ulysses S. Grant and and Richard Nixon. In 1860, Grant was selling firewood in Illinois.
Eight years later, after helping win the Civil War for the North, he became president. And Nixon lost to John Kennedy in 1960 and then the California governorship two years later before winning the 1968 election.
About the greatest comeback in history, Winston S. Churchill was surely a competitor. Churchill, born to the aristocracy in 1874, began his career as a soldier and reporter. In the Boer War, Churchill escaped from captivity in South Africa winning great notoriety. Elected to Parliament, Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911.
Modernizing the Royal Navy, after World War I broke out in 1914, Churchill organized the disastrous Dardanelles campaign to force Turkey out of the war. Resigning in disgrace, Churchill joined his regiment in France where he distinguished himself in battle.
After the war, Churchill failed in Cabinet appointments in charge of the Exchequer and then home secretary. He remained in Parliament as a very back bencher and was dismissed for his warnings about Hitler and German rearmament in the 1930s.
Made prime minister in May 1940 as Hitler was about to overrun Europe, almost single handedly he rallied his country to ultimate victory. Voted out of office after Germany surrendered in May 1945, he was reelected prime minister in 1951.
No matter who made the greatest comeback, Trump is in good company with Winston!
Harlan Ullman, Ph.D., (Twitter/X @harlankullman) is United Press International’s Arnaud deBorchgrave Distinguished Columnist, senior advisor at Washington D.C.’s Atlantic Council, chairman of two private companies and principal author of the shock and awe military doctrine. His next book, due in 2025, is “The Great Paradox: Strategic Thinking in an Unstrategic World.”