A word on slogans
The slogans candidates use in campaigns and in office say a lot about their vision for the country. Those who have been most successful have usually been forward looking: Franklin Roosevelt declared that “Happy Days are Here Again” and promised a New Deal. Lyndon Johnson promised a Fair Deal.
In 1960, both candidates were forward-looking, with Kennedy stating that it was “A time for greatness” and Nixon proclaiming he was “For the future.” Ronald Reagan, in 1984, campaigning on an improving economy, declared that it was “Morning again in America.”
Bill Clinton built on similar themes, adopting “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” as a campaign song and, in 1996, promising to build “a bridge to the 21st century.” He referred to himself as coming from a place called Hope (Arkansas).
Barack Obama also looked to the future, echoing Cesar Chavez with “Yes we can” and for re-election, the simple slogan “Forward.” Contrast this with slogans used by Donald Trump. The most famous is “Make America Great Again.”
Some complained that this echoed statements Adolf Hitler made, though this was somewhat overstated. Hitler did use the phrase, but not as a major campaign slogan. But MAGA is still a backward-looking slogan. I suspect if any Democratic candidate had used it, they would have been accused of a lack of patriotism — What do you mean America isn’t already great?
Looking backward, one has to wonder when Trump would like us to think America was great. Presumably, it is before the Obama presidency in which we endured seven consecutive years of slow, but steady economic growth. Perhaps it was during segregation or when women didn’t have the right to vote.
When asked when America was great, failed Senatorial candidate Roy Moore spoke of “when families were united — even though we had slavery.” So, slavery is worth it as long as families are united, whatever exactly united means. And of course, not all families were united. During slavery, it was quite common for black families to be separated with some members being sold and sent a great distance away.
Ultimately, MAGA is a slogan that allows the listener to decide, but what it invokes is clearly a--largely false--notion of a united past when things were more clearly defined, a rigid social structure was enforced, and though it is not openly stated, that leadership was white and male.
Perhaps more troublesome is the slogan Trump developed later, “America First.” In his rambling inauguration speech, he described the United States in apocalyptic terms, some kind of weird hellscape that most of us would not recognize. Perhaps President George W. Bush put it best when he stated simply, “That was some weird s--t.”
America First has a long history as a slogan. Woodrow Wilson used it in his isolationist run for president, promising to keep us out of World War I. Staying away from that conflict might have been the right thing, but Wilson moved away from it and from his isolationism. After the war, he pushed for the US to join the League of Nations, but isolationism took the day. Some historians believe World War II might have been prevented had the US joined.
The Ku Klux Klan also made frequent use of the slogan, especially in the 1920s when their support was at its peak.
But America First really became popular in 1940, just before World War II. The America First Committee had hundreds of thousands of members across the country, including two future presidents, Kennedy and Ford, along with future Supreme Court justice Potter Smith and future Peace Corps leader Sargent Shriver.
But the most prominent leader of the movement was Charles Lindberg, the hero aviator who was the first to fly across the Atlantic. Lindberg gave speeches across the country on behalf of the organization, urging the US to stay out of the war and avoid even passive support of the allies.
Lindberg visited Nazi Germany and was widely admired there. He toured and praised their military facilities, being allowed to pilot one of their newly developed bombers. The voices of Lindberg and others likely delayed US entry into the war.
The Committee fell apart after Pearl Harbor, but America First as a political party staged a brief comeback with supporters of Pat Buchanan breaking off from the Reform Party to run a few candidates.
The Anti-defamation league has urged Trump to abandon the slogan due to the “undercurrents of antisemitism and bigotry” involved in the movement.
Trump’s version of America First strikes a similar tone as the previous ones, with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and hints of racism. History repeats itself.