How will history treat Donald Trump?

OPINION:

How will history treat President Trump? Well, I think. It depends, of course, on several conditions, including and especially the historian writing the history. As Winston Churchill once said, “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.”

The current class of left-wing historians will predictably run down Mr. Trump, but do they really count? They are liberal cliches, performing for the left-wing parlor game, utterly predictable with little real credibility outside the liberal salons of the academy, MSNBC and CNN.

More important, to this historian and author, Mr. Trump will score high marks. Another measurement of a president’s success is how the American people will regard him at the end of his presidency. Ronald Reagan had an approval rating of more than 70% when he left office, but he dipped into the 40s during the tail end of the Carter recession.

Mr. Trump’s record of success is dizzying: the border, illegals rounded up, the Department of Government Efficiency, inflation, the economy and now peace in the Middle East, among others. I won’t list them all here, except to dwell on the Abraham Accords and the new Middle East peace agreement. Twenty years ago, who would have thought there would be Arab embassies in Israel? This is a monumental achievement deserving on its own of a Nobel Peace Prize, just as Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s administration of the rebuilding of Japan after World War II was deserving of one.

Reagan’s winning of the Cold War without firing a shot was also deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize, as were Pope John Paul II’s yeoman’s efforts. Unfortunately, being conservatives, they were passed over. The Nobel Committee would rather give the award to a Black president … for being Black. Or to a loony tune like Al Gore for being woefully, comically wrong about the environment.

We’ve now had 47 presidents. Most rank from mediocre to bad. Take President Biden. History will record him not only as America’s worst president but also as our most corrupt. His name will become a rotten noun (i.e., “pulling a Biden”). People will look at the Biden years the same way they looked at the Herbert Hoover years: bleak and hopeless.

Mark Twain once joshed that “history is merely a list of surprises,” but most true leaders don’t take that cynical view. Most influential men believe that, to at least a limited degree, they are masters of their own fates. President Kennedy said history is the “past rushing into the future.” In today’s world of hyperspeed communications, it does often seem that history is rushing toward us.

Right behind Mr. Biden is President Obama. His only skill was in the study of himself, which is why I call him the nation’s first Facebook president. He never met a first-person pronoun he did not like. His color will always be a factor in calculating his importance to history for liberals, who are more interested in identity than in merit.

Pulling up the rear with Messrs. Biden and Obama are former Presidents John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Carter.

All these presidents left America worse than whence they found her. All are judged by history to be failed presidents.

In the second class of excellent presidents are Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Harry S. Truman and Kennedy. There will always be some debate as to where Kennedy belongs. He was a political conservative, a fiercely anti-communist tax cutter and a visionary who launched America to the moon. He is a personal favorite of mine, as he was the first president of whom I was cognizant. His handling of the Cuban missile crisis was masterful.

Presidents in the great category include George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Reagan. All did great things, including saving many people while leaving their country a better place. Washington’s accomplishments are too numerous to mention. Lincoln defeated the scourge of slavery, FDR won World War II, and Reagan overcame the Soviet Union and won the Cold War.

My wife and I worked for Reagan, so he will always have a special place in our hearts. In addition to working for the Republican National Committee at the time, Zorine also ran the Conservative Political Action Committee, where Reagan spoke each year.

The great philosopher Charles Adams once postulated, “Do the times make the man, or does the man make the times?” This question was intended to stimulate debate, but in the case of Mr. Trump, there is no debate. He makes the times he lives in.

Great presidents are also known for their great quotes. “Government, like fire, is a dangerous servant and fearful master.” “A nation divided against itself cannot stand.” “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” And “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.”

Now with Mr. Trump, “The hostages are home” means so much more. It means we wake up today in a world where the Middle East is free and peaceful. When has that ever happened before? Ever?

He has been praised by liberal media outlets, including “The View.” Tomorrow, we might read newspapers that proclaim, “Hell freezes over.”

As was once said, “A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” This phrase certainly applies to our greater presidents and definitely applies to Mr. Trump today.

I won’t yet place Mr. Trump in history except to rank him high so far. However, considering all his accomplishments in 10 short months, he has three-plus more years for even greater accomplishments. One thing is for sure, however: Mr. Trump will leave his country a better place to live.

As Napoleon once said, “A leader is one who deals in hope.” President Trump deals in hope.

• Craig Shirley is an American historian and author. He has written multiple critically acclaimed books on President Reagan.