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Trump did not understand Pearl Harbor, new book reveals: 'What's this all about?'
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2025
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Presidents are not actually superhuman. They don't actually know everything about the world. They typically know about as much as any other reasonably-well-educated American, plus maybe some extra stuff from their background. Donald Trump worked in real estate and branding. Harry Truman was a haberdasher. Andrew Jackson was a soldier.
They try really hard to give the impression that they're super-familiar with everything -- that's part of the campaign. But...they aren't.
And they're gonna have blind spots, like anyone else.
What makes a President especially capable is that they have a large staff of advisors and experts under them who can advise them on things, not that they have everything in their own skull.
I know probably a fair bit about Pearl Harbor compared to the typical American. I think that there are interesting bits about it. But...to be honest, I'd say that it's not really all that critical to be especially familiar with it as a President. If you're a naval warfare historian, maybe a naval officer, sure.
I think that probably, a President's important skills are being able to select competent people to work for them, being able to get along with them and willing to listen to them, being able to communicate well -- since they are the public face of the US and the face of the government to the public -- and maybe to conduct themselves ethically or something like that. Now...I don't personally believe that Donald Trump ranks very well on those characteristics. I don't think that he has the stuff that makes for a good President. But I also don't think that having a lot of familiarity with naval battles, even an important naval battle, is that critical, either.
The Battle of Gettsyburg was also important from an American military history standpoint. Ditto for the Battle of Bunker Hill. But...I don't really think that a familiarity with them is all that important for a President. If they need to get that information, they should know how to get ahold of it (which...it actually sounds like Trump was doing there, asked someone who should know.
I understand what you were going for with this comment but I think you wildly missed the mark.
I don’t expect presidents to be knowledgeable on all subjects either. I expect leaders to surround themselves with experts as well, but Trump has a long history of disagreeing with and firing his advisors and staff whenever he is wrong. This isn’t because he was in real estate, it’s because he is a narcissist and treats learning as a bruise to the ego.
I expect heads of state to take the time to know why they are visiting a place or attending an event. For all the planning and preparation for the tour and the ridiculous travel time to get to Hawaii from the east coast, you expect me to believe that the President couldn’t be bothered to at least look it up on Wikipedia? Not even considering that the president doesn’t just show up randomly at places.
Didn’t look it up, didn’t ask before hand, didn’t listen to any briefing, didn’t pay attention to where he was going. This isn’t because his background is in real estate, it’s because he is a selfish, inconsiderate, ignorant fool.
And for the record, I’d expect the president of the Union to at least understand the importance of Gettysburg.