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Is he in politics?
There are specific examples given in this thread. There is not need to go to (the cynical) "all politicians are at least a little corrupt" narrative to sort out the question for Trump. The question that remains for any reader is "do you find those actions to be corrupt? Certainly they do for many posters.
I was in the process of editing my post to add some stuff to it when you were replying, so not sure if you saw this second part of it
He is uniquely bad in that we've never had a convicted felon, insurrectionist and adjudicated and self-confessed sex abuser. His corruption in office may be matched by Buchanan but his solicitation of bribes (Qatari jet) is unmatched in scope and amount. I am convinced that his flagrant disregard for truth is unmatched.
You’re fine with presidents using the office to secure private business deals for themselves?
So then how do we have congressmen who make the same salary I do, increasing their net worth $4 million in a period of 5 years.
Trump and his family had an international billion dollar business LONG before he got into politics. Should that business stop growing when he became POTUS?
Answer the question. Are you fine with the president and his family using the office of the president to secure future business deals for themselves?
I didn't say your question was "loaded". I said it was cynical. Is there any part of this post you think we should take seriously? It is not saying that Trump is uniquely bad in every way to characterize him as the most corrupt president in US history. If you think that statement is wrong, who was more corrupt?
Are you including their spouse's income? Once basic necessities are met, investments can produce good returns and generally, the more you invest, the higher the returns, ime. There are also lectures and book tours which may or may not be disguised payoffs.
I tend to think of corrupt politicians as those who personally enrich themselves. On that front, it is hard to get anywhere near Trump.
There were several members of the Harding cabinet that were deep in the Teapot Dome (I have a book around here somewhere...), but like the corruption of the Grant Cabinet and Credit Mobilere (UP construction) scandal there is little to no evidence either president was personally involved or profiting. Grant was apparently blind to their corrupt actions and Harding was too busy in the closet with his mistress (and then died after 2 years).
Yep. I know about this one thanks to Robert Caro. And there is the connections he made to the Texas contractor building New Deal dams in the Texas Hill Country. (I think it was Brown and Root.) that, if I recall correctly, was also tied to those stations. LBJ certainly did manage to enrich himself in Congress.
There was also the creative "deductions" for the donation of his papers to the archive. (Spiro Agnew was literally taking cash bribes in envelopes from his time as MD governor in the WH complex and pled no lo contedre to one count immediately after resigning.)
I'm not sure if this is traditional corruption, just favoritism to old friends. The company Cheney ran prior to running for VP, Halliburton, is a construction and oil services company and one of its divisions is KBR -- Kellogg, Brown, and Root, the successor to the company LBJ was entangled with.
Yes, I'm not counting the "Nancy married to Paul Pelosi" type situations...I understand why people like that are rich.
