Jason Hartman hosts Nick Adams, a four-time best-selling author, and motivational speaker. They have a conversation on how the US will turn things around and continue to be the greatest nation in the world. Adams compares Donald Trump to Winston Churchill and then discusses his book, Trump Vs Churchill, Defenders of Western Civilization. He ends with reasons on why you should never bet against the United States.
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Jason Hartman 1:00
It’s my pleasure to welcome Nick Adams. He is founder and executive director of the foundation for liberty and American greatness, otherwise known as PFLAG. He’s a columnist for townhall.com Centennial Institute policy Fellow at Colorado Christian University, and author of several books including the American Boomerang, how the world’s greatest turnaround nation. We’ll do it again. Green Card warrior, and rethinking America and Class dismissed, why college isn’t the answer. And the new book that comes out tomorrow Trump in Churchill, defenders of Western civilization. Nick, welcome. How are you?
Nick Adams 1:42
Hello, Jason. It’s a pleasure to join you and your listeners.
Jason Hartman 1:45
It’s good to have you and you are an Aussie who is now living in Dallas, right?
Nick Adams 1:49
That’s correct. I’m an immigrant to the United States of America. I got my extraordinary ability Green Card four years ago. I look forward to becoming a citizen next year when I become a Eligible after my five years of permanent residency has been completed, I wake up every day and thank God that I’m in America. I think the United States is the greatest country in the world. And I’m just really blessed to be here and be a part of the American dream.
Jason Hartman 2:15
Well, that’s awesome. But hey, Australia is not so bad. I’ve been there before I liked Australia. What’s wrong with that?
Nick Adams 2:21
Well, Jason, I’m sure that you visited you didn’t live there, probably and totally different. kettle of fish when you’re talking about living in Australia and Australia is a nice place, but it’s not really a place for somebody that wants to blaze a trail and leave a legacy and, and be different and be bold and be brash and, and not conform to expectations or conceal their true self. Australia is a place of a lot of gatekeepers, where you’re really not the person that’s in charge of you’re not the primary author of your destiny. You’re not really in the driver’s seat of your future. And that’s what makes America Especially Yeah, that’s a great way to say it. Just last question. Where in Australia did you live? in a big city? Did all of your listeners will be familiar with Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympic Games, Summer Olympics, and it’s a city of about 5 million people these days that 4 million when I was growing up, that’s a big, big place.
Jason Hartman 3:20
Yeah, good, good. It’s beautiful city for sure. But yeah, I get it. America really is a special country. There’s no question about it. And you know, we have listeners in 189 countries. And you know, I was not born in the US and I just feel that it’s a very special place and I I feel very lucky to to have that American passport. But, you know, it ain’t what it used to be. I don’t know. You know, your book, The American boomerang. You call it a Turner with the world’s greatest turnaround nation. Now, a lot of people think of turnarounds when they think of companies, right. You know, there are people, corporate people who specialize And being a turnaround specialist, how will America do it again? And by the way, that book is six years old now. So I’m sure there’s a little perspective on that too, right?
Nick Adams 4:09
Without a doubt, Jason, look, the United States of America, the American culture, I believe has a very interesting resilience. And you see it throughout history, when ever the United States of America has been under attack. Whenever America has been shoved up against the corner wall in the room, America has emerged bigger and stronger and better than it has before. Now, this is not a new thing. At all. Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous French nobleman who came out here in the 18th century, famously observed in his sociological masterpiece, democracy in America that the true genius of Americans laying their ability to repair their faults. Now, this was a sentiment that was echoed by Winston Churchill who I suspect We’ll speak about a lot later in this podcast. But Churchill famously said that America, I think, after exhausting every other option, and there is really a, a boomerang spirit to the American people. The culture is such that it’s a malleable place. It’s a flexible place. Americans have shown themselves to be very adaptive and very adaptable to things that happen in life and in the world. And that’s why I think America really has got the recipe to overcome just about any problem.
Jason Hartman 5:39
Hmm. So Churchill, that was a long time ago, World War Two. America definitely has a different set of people in it now. And pretty different set of values. Is that all still
Nick Adams 5:52
true? Well, I think so Jason, because it’s really the more of a model and from the model emanates the calls And emanates the thinking and emanates the value system. And if you go and have a look at the United States of America, it was the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, our founding fathers and the values that they projected on to America. I think that that’s what’s enabled the flexibility and the malleability and the greatness and the ambition and the risk taking and all of the things that we associate, being American, I think comes from that. So while there might be a different set of people now living in the United States of America, the thinking, the value, the approach, all of that kind of stuff, I think all of it still holds very much true.
Jason Hartman 6:48
Well, I hope you’re right. I get pretty discouraged sometimes when I think about maybe the last two generations and the way history has been revised and what they believe versus what is actually true.
Nick Adams 7:03
It’s just a different set of beliefs. I mean, you look at the way socialism is kind of taken hold, and it worries me. Look, you got absolutely every right to be worried. Jason. I mean, it’s fair to say that the United States of America is not living up to its potential. And the young people in the United States of America don’t know what it means to be an American anymore. And they don’t have an appreciation of the founding documents that I was discussing a few moments ago. And that’s a real concern, because the only way that the American model can survive is if people know what is required for the model and they have the confidence to defend it and advocate for it. So it is definitely something to be concerned about, to be aware about and to be vigilant about. But ultimately, optimism is a very American thing. And I think that we’ve got a lot of reason to be optimistic as Americans, we’re still the greatest country in the world with all of our problems and all of our challenges and all of the threats that faces there is no other place where I would rather be. I always say that if you born in the United States of America, or the day that you move to the United States of America, is the day that you win the lottery of life. And you get this incredible headstart on anyone and everyone everywhere else. And I really feel that and that’s why America remains the number one destination for all types of immigrants, legal and illegal. No question about it.
Jason Hartman 8:45
So I love studying history. And I, about a year ago I finished that series World War Two in color, which was quite interesting to me and and by the way, you know, seeing these historical film’s colorized it really does bring it to life. I hate to seem like color is that big a deal, but it really is, at least for me. I’ve been watching lately, something called America in color and other series. And of course they’ve got their revisionist aspects, but just the fact that it’s in color makes it so much more real, at least to me. And Churchill is such an interesting character. He seemed to have so much amazing faith and strength, fortitude, and without him I really think World War Two may well have turned out differently. But what are your thoughts?
Nick Adams 9:38
I agree with you, Jason. I think I’d probably be speaking Japanese and you might be speaking German.
Jason Hartman 9:43
Well, they’re about that. Man in the high castle, right.
Nick Adams 9:48
Yeah. So you know, look, it would have been very different. Had Churchill not been around at Churchill was a disrupter. He was a catalyst for change. He was one of the Those people that decided to upend what was the the norm and convention. Of course, Churchill was had half American appointments often overlooked these models American. And I like to say that I think one of the reasons why Americans who typically don’t really have a strong interest in what happens elsewhere in the world, I tend to be more America focused. I think that’s one of the reasons why Winston Churchill is an exception. And many Americans, particularly older Americans, have a real affinity for Churchill, and he resonates with them. And I think that’s because he was very American. I mean, he was a guy that was opinionated and not timid at all. Very powerful, very bold, the embraced risk, was very ambitious. I mean, he was he really acted out he is lost like in America.
Jason Hartman 10:58
Interesting. Interesting.
Nick Adams 11:00
So, do you think Trump and Churchill, ours are similar in some ways? Well, that’s why I write the book trumping Churchill defenders of Western civilization. I wrote the book, Jason because I consider both men to actually be remarkably similar. And in my research for the book, I discovered that they were incredible parallels between the times and the men. Both men of course, unique, historic, consequential. Trump’s fight is on the inside. Churchill’s fight was on the outside. Churchill was conquering the Axis powers and Trump conquering the swamp. But you know, on first blush when you look at it, you really wouldn’t see that the comparison. I mean, Churchill was five foot six and love to have a drink and Trump’s six foot three teetotaller. Churchill famously napped in his pajamas every opportunity got Donald Trump by all accounts barely sleep right was this soul compelling oryza the other not so much, once again a Korea by imposing tariffs, the other by introduce both sorry by opposing tariffs, one, you know by introducing them. So, on that level very different man. But as soon as you drill down a little bit, what you find Jason is that both of them remarkably similar, both intensely disliked, even hated. Both love their country, both alpha males, both clear thinkers and plain speakers. Both had an acrimonious relationship with the media, both in Jude battles with the political establishment seeking the destruction, both followed, leaders that were widely regarded as very weak. Of course, Churchill had Neville Chamberlain and Donald Trump had Barack Obama. So and in fact in my book trumping church We go and reproduce excerpts from British national newspapers from the late 1930s, early 1940s. And if I didn’t tell you, Jason that those excerpts were from British national newspapers at that time, about Winston Churchill, you might think that I was quoting from the New York Times or The Washington Post about Donald Trump. So identical are the criticisms so identical are the accusations that they’re overconfident that they’re too optimistic, but they don’t listen to anybody around them. All of that kind of stuff that that we see spoken about Donald Trump, Winston Churchill had to endure
Jason Hartman 13:43
that sort of this really interesting, you know, I didn’t know that much about Churchill. And yeah, I mean, it seems to me looking at history, like he was this popular leader that really united people and Well, I mean, at least on his side, of course, and sort of imparted his strength to a country that was unsure and wary. But you’re saying he had all those same criticisms and was widely hated? Well, you know, half of the country, I guess I should say like Trump, right? I mean, half the country loves. Yeah.
Nick Adams 14:15
So I guess, you know, that’s polarization for you. Right? It will certainly the people in positions of power and influence, like the elites, whether they were in the government, whether they were in the political parties or in the media, those people had a real venom for Winston Churchill. They didn’t lie him. They didn’t think he looked like a prime minister. They didn’t take him seriously. He was too arrogant for them. I mean, he was he was their worst nightmare and in many ways, similar to how Donald Trump is perceived by bureaucrats and the former presidents and many people in Congress, and even many people in his own party like Mitt Romney. So the comparison apparel wells are really incredible when you when you when you get down that’s what blew me away as I was writing Trump and Churchill, defenders of Western civilization.
Jason Hartman 15:09
Hmm, very interesting, very interesting. What else would you like people to know? You know, either about the boomerang or the comparison of Trump and Churchill.
Nick Adams 15:18
Well, Jason Are you look, history repeats itself and you have to really be aware of that and and know how to say things and Donald Trump came on the scene, politically at a time when a lot of everyday Americans were hurting. their confidence had taken a hit. They had not been made to feel comfortable to celebrate their patriotism or have their patriotism, the focal part of their life and the culture. And Donald Trump comes along And gives that to them and in many ways, Winston Churchill gave that same kind of confidence and assurance. Now we see now, New York Mayor Bill deblasio came out and, and blasted President Trump for being or for peddling false optimism. And it’s funny because Churchill was accused of exactly the same thing. Because he would get on a radio address and he would remind people of sunny days past and he would promise them sunny days in the future. And for the world that was going through its darkest hours, many people thought that that was irresponsible. But that was wrong. That was him. underplaying what was going on? And in the same way, CNNs wolf blitzer accused the president of belittling the enormity of the crisis in relation to COVID-19 you can’t
Jason Hartman 16:54
win. That’s the bottom line here. You know, no matter what Trump does The media will hate him. It’s just ridiculous. Really?
Nick Adams 17:04
That’s exactly right.
Jason Hartman 17:05
Yeah. Unbelievable. Well, where do we go from here and wrap it up for us? give out your website.
Nick Adams 17:12
Look, where do we go to from here? always believe in America. never bet against America. understand who we are, where we come from what we do. And every one of us there’s a little bit of our founding fathers still be optimistic. It’s not American to be sit around with slumped shoulders. This is the greatest country in the world, despite all the problems that we have. We’re very lucky to have a president of the of the middle and the strength and fortitude and leadership of Donald Trump. And we can win this we can bounce back, we can do everything. If you’d like to know more about me, go to Nick Adams usa.com. That’s Nick Adams usa.com. If you’d like to order Trump in church, you’ll go to amazon.com that’s amazon.com and you Be good to go.
Jason Hartman 18:00
Yeah, good stuff. Nick, one last question for you. How do you think history will look at Trump compared to the way he’s viewed today? either positive or negative? Whatever?
Nick Adams 18:13
No. Yeah, I think it’ll be very different to what it is today. I think Donald Trump will very much be a van Gogh president, that is to say one, probably not appreciated in his lifetime. It will be with the passage of time that Donald Trump will be seen more objectively, and potentially, as I make out in the case for in my book, Trump and Churchill, defenders of Western civilization, potentially be one of the greatest diggers of the 21st century. We’ve got a long way to go in that century. But it’s very possible that he will become the Winston Churchill of the 21st century. From a historical perspective,
Jason Hartman 18:50
Nick, thank you for joining us. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss any episodes. Be sure to check out the show’s specific website and our general website heart and Mediacom for appropriate disclaimers and Terms of Service. Remember that guest opinions are their own. And if you require specific legal or tax advice, or advice and any other specialized area, please consult an appropriate professional. And we also very much appreciate you reviewing the show. Please go to iTunes or Stitcher Radio or whatever platform you’re using and write a review for the show we would very much appreciate that. And be sure to make it official and subscribe so you do not miss any episodes. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode.