Eli Lake

And every once in a while, it rolls up its sleeves and barges into the corridors of power, shouting, move aside, I'm landing this plane. Yes, populism is as American as baseball and apple pie. We will never escape it. Our culture is drenched in it. Populism is Sam Adams dumping shiploads of imported tea into the Boston Harbor.

It's the protagonist in a John Grisham novel discovering the whole damn system is corrupt. It's Walt Whitman's barbaric yawp. It's Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights, quitting on the set of a porno.

It's the protagonist in a John Grisham novel discovering the whole damn system is corrupt. It's Walt Whitman's barbaric yawp. It's Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights, quitting on the set of a porno.

It's the protagonist in a John Grisham novel discovering the whole damn system is corrupt. It's Walt Whitman's barbaric yawp. It's Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights, quitting on the set of a porno.

Populism is neither left nor right, donkey or elephant. It is a feral defiance that can burst from anywhere on the ideological spectrum. Populists comprise the early founders of the Congress of Industrialized Organizations. At the same time, the Christian scolds who brought us prohibition were also populists.

Populism is neither left nor right, donkey or elephant. It is a feral defiance that can burst from anywhere on the ideological spectrum. Populists comprise the early founders of the Congress of Industrialized Organizations. At the same time, the Christian scolds who brought us prohibition were also populists.

Populism is neither left nor right, donkey or elephant. It is a feral defiance that can burst from anywhere on the ideological spectrum. Populists comprise the early founders of the Congress of Industrialized Organizations. At the same time, the Christian scolds who brought us prohibition were also populists.

populists sometimes champion deeply undemocratic ideas, populists can also emerge on the left. After all, what is Bernie Sanders if not a populist?

populists sometimes champion deeply undemocratic ideas, populists can also emerge on the left. After all, what is Bernie Sanders if not a populist?

populists sometimes champion deeply undemocratic ideas, populists can also emerge on the left. After all, what is Bernie Sanders if not a populist?

Zero! As I said, American populism is not really an ideology. It's more of a mood. It's the desire to fire the bosses, to crash the country club and ask the snobs sincerely, you think you're better than me? So as unique as the presidential inauguration of 2025 seems, we have in fact seen populists like Donald Trump before. There was Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot.

Zero! As I said, American populism is not really an ideology. It's more of a mood. It's the desire to fire the bosses, to crash the country club and ask the snobs sincerely, you think you're better than me? So as unique as the presidential inauguration of 2025 seems, we have in fact seen populists like Donald Trump before. There was Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot.

Zero! As I said, American populism is not really an ideology. It's more of a mood. It's the desire to fire the bosses, to crash the country club and ask the snobs sincerely, you think you're better than me? So as unique as the presidential inauguration of 2025 seems, we have in fact seen populists like Donald Trump before. There was Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot.

There was Alabama Governor George Wallace.

There was Alabama Governor George Wallace.

There was Alabama Governor George Wallace.

And there was legendary Louisiana Governor Huey Law.

And there was legendary Louisiana Governor Huey Law.

And there was legendary Louisiana Governor Huey Law.

There have been populist senators, governors, newspaper editors, and radio broadcasters. But, and this is important, while American history is littered with them, very rarely has a populist ever climbed as high as President Trump. In fact, it's only happened once before. The last populist to win the presidency was born before the American Revolution. He rose from nothing to become a great general.