Donald Trump is the first president to speak publicly about McKinley’s Tariff in over a century. Within the context of a plan to rebuild America’s lost manufacturing base, and replace income tax as a means of securing national revenue, this concept spoken aloud is a breath of fresh air.
Whether or not Trump actually has the power to follow through on the legitimate intention to revive the traditional American System tariff policy that built the USA during the 19th century or not remains to be seen.
However, since general awareness of this American system of political economy has become so rare, and since President William McKinley’s fight to defend the American System is so little understood today, Gordon and I thought it expedient to make this week’s episode of Breaking History a ‘William McKinley special’ with a focus on the importance of protectionism, how it works, why it works, how Lincoln did it, what it has to do with foreign policy, and how Britain’s dishonest promotion of free trade not only destroyed millions of lives in the 19th century, but destroyed our own society during the past 40 years of Globalization.
Enjoy the show
As I'm sure Ehret will mention, McKinley was assassinated. His replacement, Teddy Roosevelt, regrettably didn't follow through.