By Tom Basile

In the US Capitol’s Statuary Hall, the old House of Representatives chamber, a statue of Clio, muse of History, watches intently while recording events in her marble book. She writes very slowly.

The Republican Party and all Americans would benefit from a long look back at what Donald J. Trump actually accomplished. Promoting that legacy by focusing on his substantive record should be Trump’s highest priority. It will take time as it did for Truman, Nixon, Carter, and others, particularly those who left office with their reputations in tatters. This analysis can and should look far beyond the events of January 6.

It’s going to take focus and hard work for the former president and his team, not threatening a civil war in Republican ranks. History herself offers us a cautionary tale.

A little more than a century ago, another brash New Yorker roiled the political world. He too was never supposed to become president. Teddy Roosevelt was a populist who bucked the system, taking on the titans and sacred cows of his day. He was a historic figure of boundless energy and enthusiasm who accomplished a great deal.

Ultimately, though, ambition born of personal hostility ended up dividing his party. The man once described as wanting to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral, craved the political spotlight. He loved the game. He relished the fight.

Roosevelt ran against his own protégé William Howard Taft in 1912, setting up a three-way race between himself, President Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Together Roosevelt and Taft won more popular support – but split the traditional Republican vote – handing the election to Wilson, the man who would become the father of the modern administrative state we are still grappling with today.

More recent longshot bids have done further damage. Ross Perot cost George H. W. Bush his reelection. Ralph Nader may have peeled enough votes from Al Gore in 2000 to make the difference in that razor-thin contest. In 2020, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen took enough votes from Trump to make the difference in several swing states. In Georgia’s Senate runoff races a few weeks ago, we saw what happens when Republicans form a circular firing squad.

Real leadership from Trump would involve a well-funded effort to recapture the suburbs, continue to make gains with blacks and Latinos, and address the gender gap that got worse under his presidency.

Good politics has always been about addition and multiplication, not division and subtraction. Nasty primary battles or continuing to drive speculation about a Trump third-party  will do nothing but feed egos and fill the bank accounts of political consultants and grifters in the conservative movement. If the GOP is not totally united in 2022 and beyond, it will lose in swing states and swing districts.

Eighty-eight races (12 Senate and 76 in the House) were decided by single digits in 2020, more than double the number of four years ago.

President Biden’s divisive inauguration speech and his early actions advance a narrative that equates legitimate questions held by millions of Americans about policies like immigration, censorship, the welfare state, taxes, spending, and even election law, with racially motivated violence. His weakness and lack of independence from the far left provide an enormous opportunity to swing the pendulum back toward Republican values.

If former President Trump is serious about ginning up efforts to primary personal enemies, he will be more responsible for the advance of the leftwing than even the Biden-Harris administration he loathes. 

President Biden has one thing right. Unity is what we need for American freedom to survive: Republican unity. Trump’s third party dream is a dangerous fantasy.

Tom Basile is the host of Newsmax Television’s “America Right Now,” an author, and a columnist for the Washington Times. He served in the administration of George W. Bush. Learn more about him at www.TomBasile.com.

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