When you lose something precious, something valuable — the big prize — you don’t have to get stuck with the “loser” label forever. Life and politics are full of examples of broken hearts and smashed dreams, and also examples of those who managed to rewrite their legacies in meaningful ways that benefited themselves and society.
Donald Trump has proved that he is not the kind of person given to reflection or remorse and would seem the last character capable of earning redemption. He slinked out of the White House on Wednesday, burdened with grievances, two impeachments and “what-ifs,” beating an early retreat before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in. But it’s not too late for him to learn something he has not so far in his 74 years.
Though he predicted four years ago that an America without his leadership would crumble, it was Trump who brought a vision of “American carnage” to life. The lasting image is of his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol, attacking democracy itself, and of a COVID-19 death toll passing 400,000, Americans mourned not by him but by Biden and Harris on inauguration eve with a solemn and soulful service the country needed.
But Trump’s Wikipedia entry doesn’t have to start with the word “disaster,” not if he looks away from his red-carpet exit to pay attention, even with his notoriously short attention span, to how others have conducted themselves when confronted with power and influence slipping through their fingers.
