Source: Gregory Wynn Collection, Theodore Roosevelt Library, Dickinson State University
Donald Trump was considered “all right” by the American electorate in 2024 because of his nationalist rhetoric on issues like immigration enforcement and a less interventionist foreign policy. For reasons almost as tragic as McKinley’s assassination, those hopes have been dashed on the rocks of Trump’s pride and myopia. In 1901, the American people had an even better man in Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to step in and steer the nation into a new century. It may now fall to Vice President J D Vance to rescue the nationalist cause from Trump’s betrayal.
Vance and TR share clear parallels, though they also differ in important ways. Both are military veterans, thought they drew opposite conclusions from their service. While TR lauded the results of the Spanish-American war, Vance’s experience in Iraq taught him to be suspicious of military intervention. Like Roosevelt, both were young fathers of children when they became vice president. Finally, Vance is also a published author and, like TR, is articulate, intellectual, and comfortable with discussing big ideas. A more farsighted administration would have used Vance’s strengths to show Americans how nationalism advances their family interests and those of the nation.
Instead, Vance has been forced to defend Trump’s shortsighted policies and ham-handed tactics. It is true that vice presidents have always served as a president’s attack dog against critics, though Vance has sadly lapsed into the kind of coarse rhetoric Trump has used and encouraged among his followers. As Trump’s support evaporates and he faces a hostile Democratic Congress, Vance’s presidential aspirations and the future of the country now may rest on a uniquely courageous strategy.
Vance’s Coming “Crowded Hour”
Vice President Vance already has a military record to be proud of, but his next service may be need to be a political version of TR’s courageous charge up Kettle Hill. He must rescue American nationalism from Trump’s damaging divisiveness by rejecting the President’s short-term, dictatorial tactics in favor of a long-term legislative debate that can achieve lasting change. In immigration, he can propose a complete statutory overhaul to tighten judicial enforcement and create a system that protects American workers instead of undercutting them. He can work with Democrats on legislation to break up monopolies and address food and housing affordability. He can also foster a debate on presidential war powers and the challenges America faces in today’s increasingly multipolar world.
Any of these issues could lead him into direct conflict with the President. However, Vance has one advantage over everyone else in the administration. He alone cannot be fired. As vice president, he has his own electoral mandate. Trump can fulminate against him and campaign against him in 2028, but that is all he can do. Meanwhile, Vance would be building a distinct political persona that would potentially insulate him from Trump’s failures.
Like TR’s charge up the hill, this comes with obvious risks. Trump’s apparent hold on the Republican Party would embolden him to believe he could exact revenge on Vance for perceived disloyalty. He must be aware that his son Donald Trump, Jr. is running third in the polls while doing nothing to deserve it. However, the MAGA coalition is already fraying from Trump’s betrayals and so is open to a new leader. A new coalition with traditional Republicans may be a winning combination. Indeed, the risks of being stuck to the Trump tar baby in a general election may be greater than proving his independence early in the campaign.
Thus, the survival of a Roosevelt-style nationalism may indeed rest in the hands of JD Vance much as it did after McKinley’s death in 1901. To paraphrase Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech, he can take the deceptively safe road of “those cold, timid souls,” clinging to the President in the hope that Trump’s erratic narcissism does not destroy his political future. Or he can stride into the arena, accepting the blood and blows from both sides in the noble cause of building a strong and unified American people and, thus, a strong America. It is his decision, and his alone. We progressive American nationalists must now pray he makes the right one.