First there was George W. Bush, then there was Barack Obama. The country could only stand so much. One Montana editor watched and wrote as the United States slipped closer and closer to chaos, and he prayed for a national savior. Then Donald Trump came down the escalator. Was he the answer? The essays by Frank Miele in this collection span from 2005 to 2009 during the second term of President Bush, with special emphasis on the collapsing border, the war on terrorism and the birth of the Tea Party movement.
"Bush's Global Failure" opens the author's three-part examination of "Why We Needed Trump" and sets the stage for the entire Heartland Diary USA series. These essays originally appeared in the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana, where Miele worked for 34 years, including 18 years as managing editor. Miele gained a wide following for his weekly conservative "Editor's 2 Cents" commentaries, which are now collected in the Heartland Diary series. One of those early readers was Richard L. Spencer, a Vietnam veteran and economist from the East Coast, who became a devoted reader more than a decade ago. Spencer writes in the Foreword:
What is so alluring about Mr. Miele's "Heartland Diary" entries is that they come from the soul, they are thoroughly researched, and they always have a critical point that causes the reader to evaluate his own opinions. That is one of the major clues of a solid thinker - soul in his writing that stands the test of time. Now, as the decade has passed, I seldom read other editors because when it comes to philosophic intent or critical thinking, Frank is the master. I am always astounded by how rich his mind is and how he has had the energy and intellect to produce such readable articles week after week for the better part of two decades. No one can match him. However, his readers are the winners, as they have the wisdom needed to appreciate such work."
The author, who is now a columnist for Real Clear Politics, describes his work as a community journalist in his Introduction, and explains why his column became such a touchstone for conservatives:
"My column ultimately was informed by love of country, gratitude for family and friends, humility before God, and an acute awareness of the cussedness of politicians and other wild animals. I repeatedly called on the American people to live up to the mandate set upon them by the Founding Fathers - to educate themselves and govern the governors - and I publicly repudiated presidents, both Democratic and Republican, who betrayed their own sacred trust to the Constitution. All along, as I wrote of the greatness of America, I felt our country willingly slipping away into mediocrity - and looked for solutions that would come from the people, not the politicians."
Although Miele was a conservative, he found plenty to fault in the world view of George W. Bush, and saw him as providing Barack Obama with his foothold in the White House. Obama's eight years as president are covered in the second volume of "Why We Needed Trump," subtitled "Obama's Fundamental Transformation: Far Left," and Miele delves into the historical underpinnings of the Obama presidency in the progressive movement of the 20th century and the social upheaval of the 1960s. Toward the end of Obama's second term, Miele had started to lose hope for the United States, but then he like everyone else was taken by surprise by Donald Trump's arrival on the political scene in 2015.
Unlike those who were amused by Trump, however, Frank saw him immediately as a pivotal figure and became one of Trump's few supporters in the world of daily journalism. Part 3 of "Why We Needed Trump" looks at the first two years of the Trump administration, with emphasis on border security, the war against Fake News and the philosophy of "America First."