If we think of political personalities, we can find no greater divergence on the Right than Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

One was born poor. The other born rich. One was almost shy, knowable to few. The other one bombastic and vain. One charmed his opponents into victories over them. The other made them so livid they went after him over nothing. One left office after being reelected in a landslide, loved by America and even respected by the press and Democrat opponents. The other lost reelection and is strongly condemned across party lines. It recalls lessons that many Republicans forgot, including me: Character counts.

I am constantly amazed that the Republican Party that made Character Counts an unofficial slogan seems so shocked that character counts.

— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) January 8, 2021

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It wasn’t the only Reagan lesson we forgot. When you can get along in the personal sense with the opposition, that helps politically. There were instances during the Reagan administration when Ted Kennedy and Tip O’Neill had gracious and respectful things to say about Reagan. Has that happened over the last four years? Could Trump call in a personal favor or rely on personal regard to get something done with Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi? Reagan could and did with O’Neill and other Democrats.

And then there is the purely political aspect. Reagan held the Senate 6 out of 8 years. Trump lost it in four. Trump also lost the House and his own office. We are not saying Reagan was beloved of Democrats and the Left. But the political and personal animosity level rarely got to the constant vitriol of the Trump era.

These lessons also should have been remembered by writers like me. I was won over by the Trump love of the fight, his operational conservatism, and by the man having all the right enemies. I brushed off his low rent bridge and tunnel attitude towards women. I ignored his ridiculous vanity and boorish hyperbole. I countenanced his childlike petulance and consistent exaggerations. All because I wanted political victories. But at what eventual cost? I found out that cost on November 3rd and more so on Wednesday.

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So do we learn from this time, this man, this debacle, or just chalk it up to an unfortunate glitch in the system? I’ll quote George Santayana here and leave it at that. “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”