I enjoyed your thoughts. I think it will be a long time before we are able to have a dispassionate view of the Trump administration. Much of his ultimate legacy will be judged based on what happens over the next 20 to 30 years.

I thought you were a bit hard on Hoover. FDR friendly historians have dramatically shaped our view of his presidency. He actually did far more to respond to the Great Depression than any prior president had ever attempted. After the 1930 midterm election many Democrats actively impeded his efforts in order to increase their odds of winning the presidency in 1932. The number of New Deal programs that either failed or were declared unconstitutional point to the enormous challenges of the moment.

Arthur Schlesinger once argued that we should measure presidents based on three criteria:

1 Their personal qualities and leadership.

2. The people with who they surround themselves.

3. The times they lived in and how well they responded to those challenges.

My prediction in that history will not be kind to Trump on any of those categories, but of course, only time will tell.