Doris Kearns Goodwin says the U.S. has never elected a 'demagogue' like Donald Trump

Doris Kearns Goodwin does not know what to think of Donald Trump — (Image credit: Late Show)

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was carried into The Late Show by four Chippendales dancers dressed in Abraham Lincoln top hats and beards, and after some good-natured ribbing from host Stephen Colbert, who had arranged the grand entrance, Goodwin said that in fact Lincoln was "ripped" from chopping logs, and also, in her opinion, sexy. Then they turned to present-day presidential politics, and that means only one thing.

"So, we have come to the portion of the show where I am legally required to ask you about Donald Trump," Colbert said. First he asked if there were any precedents for someone like Trump running for president of the United States, and Goodwin said yes. "It has to do with periods of fear and anxiety when a presidential candidate can promise things they may not be able to deliver, but people want to believe it." She used Trump's promise to build a wall along America's southern border, paid for by Mexico. "But the problem with demagogues — which I think is the definition — is you make promises you can't necessarily keep."

So, Colbert asked, "demagogues have run before, but has one of the them actually gotten to the Oval Office before?" Goodwin said that's a good question, but "no, I don't think so. I think what happens is that after a while, the disparity between facts and what the person says usually gets to them." All politicians exaggerate things, she said, but "I don't know what's going to happen to Trump, if he gets further and further along, with all the things we know are not true and then he just comes back and he just says, 'It is true!'" Still, even with her knowledge of history, Goodwin doesn't know where this election is going, now that party bosses have little authority and less financial clout. A self-financing candidate who promises to never disappoint you and says he's never wrong: "What do you do with that kind of a guy?" Goodwin asked. And she's supposed to be the expert. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.