# Would young Trump have been a better President than old Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820 "2017-10-14T14:29:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/21 "2017-10-14T18:04:11Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > So you’ll be in court on Monday morning invoking the 25th Amendment? You don’t go to court, the VP and a majority of the Cabinet notify the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of their determination that the President is [del]unable to discharge his duty[/del] a fucking lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/22 "2017-10-14T18:19:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It sure isn’t a GQ. Moved to Great Debates. Please consider what forum is most appropriate before posting. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Gee, thanks, Colibri 🙂 I’m moving it to IMHO since it’s mostly opinion seeking. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/23 "2017-10-14T18:22:32Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SEPs17_AkTI/hqdefault.jpg "Donald Trump Teases a President Bid During a 1988 Oprah Show | The Oprah Winfrey Show | OWN") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI) I like going back to this video of Trump on Oprah in 1988. His core message is uncannily similar but he seems so much more relaxed and articulate than today that it’s hard to believe there hasn’t been a degree of mental deterioration over the last three decades. At the least I suspect the younger Trump would be better at coping with the huge pressures of the job. The overriding impression I get today is a man who is emotionally unstable and constantly blown around by the last thing that’s enraged him. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/24 "2017-10-14T18:27:43Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > So you’ll be in court on Monday morning invoking the 25th Amendment? Invoking the 25th Amendment has nothing to do with a medical diagnosis. As noted previously, it also has nothing to do with a court. Regardless of any official diagnosis, Trump certainly gives every appearance of being “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” in anything resembling a competent way, which is all that is required (besides some political spine). ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/25 "2017-10-14T18:45:32Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Do either of you have cites for Trump’s senility or dementia? Actual medical cites, that is. As in, some kind of report from Trump’s current personal physician attesting that the President is showing signs of senility or some sort of dementia? Gee, shockingly enough, no one here has anything like that. But how about [“Trump wasn’t always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change?”](https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/): > [@](#): > > STAT reviewed decades of Trump’s on-air interviews and compared them to Q&A sessions since his inauguration. The differences are striking and unmistakable…In interviews Trump gave in the 1980s and 1990s (with Tom Brokaw, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Rose, and others), he spoke articulately, used sophisticated vocabulary, inserted dependent clauses into his sentences without losing his train of thought, and strung together sentences into a polished paragraph, which — and this is no mean feat — would have scanned just fine in print. This was so even when reporters asked tough questions about, for instance, his divorce, his brush with bankruptcy, and why he doesn’t build housing for working-class Americans…Now, Trump’s vocabulary is simpler. He repeats himself over and over, and lurches from one subject to an unrelated one… ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/26 "2017-10-14T18:53:37Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Do either of you have cites for Trump’s senility or dementia? Actual medical cites, that is. > **[Experts: Trump’s Speaking Style “Raises Questions About His Brain Health”](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/donald-trump-brain-health)** > > Those sentence fragments and crimes against syntax are also bigly causes for concern. > **[As a doctor, I believe questions about Donald Trump's mental health now need...](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-mental-health-disorder-personality-doctors-yale-psychiatrist-investigation-a7874586.html)** > > Context is important, and mental health problems aren't always dangerous for a person's job – but in the depths of my own depression, I wouldn't consider myself safe to practice. Equally, imagine your father has a heart attack and then decides to go... > **[Trump's mental health poses danger, psychiatrists warn](https://www.salon.com/2017/10/11/trumps-mental-health-poses-danger-psychiatrists-warn/)** > > Dr. Bandy Lee discusses why Trump's aggressive tendencies and attraction to violence is problematic for all Because Trump wouldn’t allow a legitimate medical evaluation of himself to happen (which should include a full neurological workup), all we have is the opinions of trained experts watching his behavior. If Trump wants the rumors to end, he is free to undergo a legitimate medical evaluation from an objective medical team (not his doctor). From what I recall of when Trump ran for president in 2000, he wasn’t as emotionally unstable or unable to control his emotions like now. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/27 "2017-10-15T05:05:51Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Gee, thanks, Colibri 🙂 > > I’m moving it to IMHO since it’s mostly opinion seeking. > > [/moderating] Aha! We’ve now discovered the ultimate hot potato thread! Where to next? Cafe Society? I know! Thread Games! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/28 "2017-10-15T05:25:11Z")
The main advantage in having old Chump as president is the worthless piece of shit is much closer to death than young Chump would have been. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/29 "2017-10-15T06:47:16Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The main advantage in having old Chump as president is the worthless piece of shit is much closer to death than young Chump would have been. AND, as a variety of pundits have noted, that his incompetence tends to cancel out his malice, leaving him ineffective at actually accomplishing too terribly much of his evil intentions. (That latest EO knee-capping the ACA might be an exception, if it plays out that way.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/30 "2017-10-15T11:35:52Z")
Well, if in an alternate 1994, a 48 year-old Trump had done the legwork and displaced George Pataki as the governor-elect of New York… The point being that a younger Trump might have sought a lower office and built up the necessary skills and experience to be president, eventually. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/31 "2017-10-15T11:58:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The point being that a younger Trump might have sought a lower office and built up the necessary skills and experience to be president, eventually. Or at least a set of hangers-on that know how to balance the actual work of government with stroking Trump’s ego. Imagine if his “best people” were actually skilled and experienced, instead of Fox and Friends, mediocre real estate developers, and literal foreign agents. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/32 "2017-10-15T13:40:53Z")
I read _Spy_ magazine back in the late 80s-early 90s and this was my first introduction to the short finger vulgarian. It’s clear that his manifest personality and ethics issues were full blown back then. If he is getting senile, if anything it might help since, as noted, it might help him be less able to really screw things up. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/33 "2017-10-15T17:04:53Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Do either of you have cites for Trump’s senility or dementia? Actual medical cites, that is. > **[Trump wasn’t always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change?](https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/)** > > STAT asked experts to compare Trump's speech from decades ago to that in 2017. All noticed deterioration, which may signal changes in Trump's brain health. I was a health aide for 9 years and trump speak like my clients that had dementia . He take his time to say a word and has to think a lot before saying words . There is something wrong with the guy brain ! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/34 "2017-10-15T17:17:55Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > [Trump used to be more articulate. What could explain the change?](https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/) That’s a left-wing source - it’s owned by the Boston Globe. Let me just check: you’re not a doctor? You haven’t personally examined Trump? Come back when you have a verified medical opinion by a doctor who has examined Trump. Until then, it’s wishful thinking at best, and a fantastic example of the idiocy and nastiness of the Left. Trump doesn’t need your help. ---
**Author:** ![LongTimeLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@LongTimeLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongTimeLurker)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/35 "2017-10-15T17:57:29Z")
Sorry OP. There isn’t a better Trump, that is an oxymoron. DJT or any of his progeny are not good for our country. But most people already know that, why are you supporting him" ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/36 "2017-10-15T18:27:47Z")
The Trump we see today wouldn’t be capable of accomplishing the projects he completed in the 1970’s and 80’s. He doesn’t have the patience to work with people anymore. Seek out the best people and use them effectively. Trump had leadership and a vision when he was younger. I agree he’s probably in early dementia. His speech patterns are different. He doesn’t seem to have the patience to work through problems and find solutions. He was always a Type A personality with a massive ego. But these traits seem to completely overwhelm him now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/37 "2017-10-15T19:59:12Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > …I would take GHWB over any version of Trump in a heartbeat, even if 1988 Trump’s political beliefs were closer to my own than Bush’s are. Some people simply do not have the temperament to be president, and electing one of them tends to do one’s political agenda more harm than good. I was no fan of GHWB, but I’d have to agree with this. Trump has always been a narcissistic blowhard with laughably bad hair; he’s just older, grumpier and more set in his ways now. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/38 "2017-10-15T22:58:31Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Let me just check: you’re not a doctor? You haven’t personally examined Trump? Come back when you have a verified medical opinion by a doctor who has examined Trump. Until then, it’s wishful thinking at best, and a fantastic example of the idiocy and nastiness of the Left. Trump doesn’t need your help. You might notice that the forum you are in is IMHO. And again, if Trump doesn’t have some cognitive problems he’s doing a pretty good job of mimicking them. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820/39 "2017-10-16T03:10:36Z")
There was a recent incident (maybe several?) in which he had a collection of congresscritters or other Very Well-Dressed People around him while he sat at his Big Boss Desk to sign Yet Another Executive Order — and then, when all the speechifying and clapping was done, he forgot to sign it! One cite mentioned that as he got up to leave the room, Pence or someone tapped him on the shoulder to remind him to sign the thing. Hang tight, I’ll see if I can come back with a cite. This was recently. ETA: Here 'tis. [Mike Pence chases down Trump after he forgets to sign executive order](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mike-pence-chases-down-trump-after-he-forgets-to-sign-executive-order-watch/article/2637302). According to the cites I got from Google, there are even videos of this on YouTube. One headline I saw said this is the third time this has happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-young-trump-have-been-a-better-president-than-old-trump/798820.md?page=1)