No, It’s Not All About Trump
The headline on our cover is, of course, a derivative of “Make America Great Again.” That slogan is now associated with Donald Trump. But Trump was not the first candidate to use it in a presidential campaign.
When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980, he promised in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, “For those who have abandoned hope, we’ll restore hope and we’ll welcome them into a great national crusade to make America great again!” That message was recurring; Reagan campaign buttons displayed the slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again.”
Nor were Republicans the only ones to use this phrase. When Democrat Bill Clinton announced that he was throwing his hat into the 1992 presidential race, he said, “I believe that together we can make America great again.” For Clinton, too, it was a recurring message. In fact, when Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2008, Bill asserted in a radio commercial he did for her campaign, “It’s time for another comeback, time to make America great again. I know Hillary’s the one that can do it.” Hillary was fully on board with this ad. Not only did her campaign pay for it, but at the end of the ad she said, “I’m Hillary Clinton, candidate for president, and I approve this message.”
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