First, is Trump correct that in 1888, the United States was “very rich,” with “no debt”? Second, is Trump correct when he claims that the Great Tariff Debate of 1888 was about how to spend all the tariff revenue? The United States was far less restrictive on immigration then than now, and about as receptive to foreign investment and ideas. To be fair to Trump, the Great Tariff Debate reveals a few other similarities between the Great Tariff Debate of 1888 and now. What Trump failed to mention in El Paso, however, was that the McKinley tariff, the outcome of the Great Tariff Debate of 1888, proved to be a political disaster for the GOP.

Source: Washington Post February 13, 2019 12:00 UTC