his teachings. Peale calls his readers to acknowledge God’s power and refuse to allow earthly setbacks to define their limits. Who in politics today has more steadfastly refused to accept the limitations others have placed on him than Donald Trump? Those who do not understand the recipe for Trump’s secret sauce will write this off as arrogance and pride, but it is the arrogance of these same critics that scorned the idea of a Pres- ident Trump from the moment he descended that escalator in Trump Tower in 2015. Their pride blinds them to Trump’s influence, not the other way around. The words of Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “Man in the Arena” remarks could have just as easily been said about Trump’s critics in observing, “There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty.” Meanwhile, Donald Trump contin- ues steadfastly in the Christian ethic that his pastor taught him. He counts setbacks as temporary obstacles on the road to greatness. He refuses to be knocked down. He pictures himself succeeding and never lets that picture escape his mind. This posi- tive thinking is the source of Donald Trump’s winning advantage. Trump’s success in large part comes from understanding a broad and full definition of charisma. In its purest form, charisma is power combined with genuine Christian empathy. When you have only power and human empathy, you have Bill Clin-
ing inadequacy attitudes and learning to practice faith.” One of his rules is to keep in mind the line from Romans 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Another rule is to memorize and regularly recall the famous verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” from Philippians 4:13. Donald Trump doesn’t just give lip service to his time with Norman Vincent Peale’s sermons. In many ways, Trump is the embodiment of February 23, 2018 - President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, MD. Gage Skidmore/CC-BY-SA-2.0
Volume 18 Issue 2 • 33
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