As the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to dominate the headlines, both sides of the aisle have tried to control the narrative coming out of Washington D.C.
This is the first time the U.S. Congress has taken up an impeachment inquiry since the scandal involving former President Bill Clinton more than 20 years ago. As CBS correspondent Scott Pelley noted in a recent episode of 60 Minutes, Trump has taken a completely different approach than Clinton did while under similar circumstances.
Pelley pointed out how Trump has been much more vocal during Congress’s impeachment inquiry than Clinton was. Trump constantly tweets about his own impeachment investigation, calling those who have worked against him traitors and ended a tweet about Democrats’ treatment of his impeachment inquiry with “arrest for treason?”
Clinton, on the other hand, tried his best to stay away from the media attention surrounding his offense, refusing to go into detail when asked about his affair. Pelley described that the administration had hoped that if they ignored the issue, it would gradually fade from the attention of the public.
The different approaches taken by Trump and Clinton show how drastically the attitudes toward national media outlets have changed over the years. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were held in high esteem while in office, yet they shielded their true selves from the public; both men suffered from very poor health and neither were faithful husbands.
For nearly all of the U.S.’s prior political history, politicians have tried to hide much of their character from the national spotlight. They only portrayed dignity and strength, following political traditions at all costs.
Today, however, a politician’s character takes just as much, if not more, precedence for voters than their stances on issues. More and more voters are becoming influenced by the personalities of candidates and an off-putting disposition can mean an end to one’s political career.
This trend is emerging on both sides of the political spectrum. In 2016, Trump portrayed himself as a businessman who would do whatever it took to bring about change in America. He wore his character on his sleeve and many Americans were drawn to him as a result. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton was seen as untrustworthy by a portion of Americans and, as a result, faced major opposition.
Many people looking to establish themselves in the political world have seen how effective it has been to be open to the public. They want to seem relatable to everyday Americans and many have started to break traditional political norms as a result.
Other than Trump, no politician exemplifies these trends as much as Beto O’Rourke. After building his entire Texas senate campaign around his grassroots campaigning, O’Rourke has continued to distance himself from the political norm during his presidential campaign. He has used strong language on national television and has called out Trump as a racist that is promoting gun violence.
As the next decade approaches and access to information continues to grow, it is clear that politicians will continue to try to distance themselves from political traditions and continue to be more open in the media. Trump was one of the first to break this political mold and the 2020 presidential election will be the next chance for us to gauge how this trend has taken hold.
