First, some explanation.
The kinship alluded to in the title is sociopolitical, not biological. For something more in the way of an ancestral conspiracy theory, you might have a look at a playfully doctored photograph of Ghana's new president (which, however, was not intended as a hoax). This will be a comparison between Donald Trump and a certain American politician of the past as regards behavior and popularity.
The parallels to be noted here are, alas, not uncannily numerous and exact, but few and approximate. The devil is indeed in the details, which differ and thus distract. There is no mischievous intent in what follows. There never should be in political commentary, but our times are full of things that should not be and yet are. Hence all the explanation. Now our little story can begin.
In the bosom of one of those crowded concrete enclaves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, some miles below that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, there lies a devout but swinging neighborhood which is known by the name of Harlem.
Though the river and the concrete have remained admirably constant over the years, the neighborhood has found itself first in one congressional district and then another. At any rate, its residents have long been instrumental in choosing a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The member they chose for a quarter of a century starting in 1944, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., had star quality. He also had an excellent mind, a firm grasp of politics and government, a record of accomplishment, and a legitimate sense of grievance on behalf of his constituency and millions of others, but those facts do not advance the comparison at hand. Here are the ones that do:
Like Donald Trump, Adam Clayton Powell was wealthy from birth and yet enjoyed the intense loyalty of poor people. The sight of any other politician at the wheel of an expensive convertible might have filled Powell's supporters with resentment, but when it was their own star and champion they loved it. They might go home to spartan tenements while he went home to luxury, but his luxury was their pride. It meant having a Big Man working for them, and not some threadbare saint. Trumpites would identify with those people in spite of themselves, if reminded of their existence.
Like Trump, Powell seemed inclined to throw off the common yokes of ethics and responsibilities. In his case, that brought an indictment for tax evasion, notoriety for chronic absence from the House, and criticism for taking trips abroad at the taxpayers' expense, at least once accompanied by two young women.
Like Trump, Powell responded to criticism with unrepentant arrogance bolstered by alternative facts. Instead of either denying wrongdoing or expressing remorse for it, he dismissed it as doing what "every other congressman" did.
The kinship, though, is less between the politicians themselves than between their core constituencies: poor people who lionize a rich one, people with the odds stacked against them in the game of life who look to beat the house vicariously through an impudent rule-breaker. Of course Trump's mostly white working-class supporters have the advantage of being free from racial discrimination, slightly offset by the indignity of going unrecognized as downtrodden people. This parallel, too, is imperfect.
As for the two men, they must not be left standing here on anything like an equal footing. There are some crucial differences:
Long before running for public office, Adam Clayton Powell began striving to right a monumental wrong and to secure equality of opportunity for the most oppressed members of American society. Donald Trump, at a comparable age, was keeping blacks out of the family's rental properties. If he has ever striven to do anything but increase his wealth or feed his vanity, he has been uncharacteristically reticent about mentioning it.
In office, Powell worked effectively within a Congress rife with antagonism to his aims, even from members of his own party. He did not wield the power of the presidency, though he had fruitful relations with Democratic presidents and congressional leaders, and yet he succeeded in doing much good. At present it remains to be seen whether President Trump will succeed in doing anything at all. However, he shows neither the ability nor the will to be an effective political leader.
Powell retained the approval of his constituents for many years. This champion of poor black people was at last brought low by the hubris of a personality formed in the lap of almost-white privilege. Trump, who displays a spoiled rich boy's hubris like no one else, entered office with an approval rating of only 40%, compared with 84% for Barack Obama. Now his administration is twenty-six days into a breathtaking career of blunders and misdeeds (the capital is reeling from Michael Flynn's resignation and watching Kellyanne Conway teeter on the brink). What degree of approval President Trump might enjoy four years in the future defies imagination if not arithmetic itself.
Powell arguably comes out ahead on the score of absenteeism as well. True, he should not have said, "You don’t have to be there if you know which calls to make, which buttons to push, which favors to call in." But Trump is absent even when he's there.
