Forget Trump Derangement Syndrome

Wayne Allyn Root describes Trump Derangement Syndrome — a devastating mental disorder that impacts many liberals today. But what he and other journalists have failed to cover is a similar condition that Americans have been struggling with for almost a century — the pernicious Taft Anxiety Disorder.

This illness stems from stress relating to the incumbency of 27th president, William Howard Taft, who held the office from 1909-1913. Doctors say a common symptom is a feeling of impending doom about Mr. Taft’s “dollar diplomacy” policies toward Latin America and East Asia. Sufferers describe a paralysis when thinking about how advanced technologies such as the stenotype and vacuum cleaner would bring economic calamity, as millions of jobs could be shipped overseas or made obsolete by machines.

My own grandmother suffered from Taft Anxiety Disorder. I remember her telling petrifying stories of the possible consequences of the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair of 1909. Furthermore, the constant controversy surrounding the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the impact that the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act would have on print paper imports — they nearly drove her mad. I vividly recall her trembling in fear at night, mumbling about Mr. Taft appointing Horace H. Lurton as a Supreme Court justice. “And he didn’t stop there” she quivered. “He went on to appoint six justices to the Supreme Court. No one should have that much power!”

So please remind the readers of the Review-Journal who may suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome that they are not alone in this struggle — many generations of brave Americans have fought this disease before, and America has somehow survived.