Dear Frederick Trump,
It has been 99 years since you died, but your legacy and family are more successful and well-known in the country you made your home when you immigrated from Germany.
Your grandson, who was born nearly three decades after your death, has achieved the American Dream perhaps more successfully than anyone in history. He achieved the 3 ultimate goals each person strives for in wealth, fame, and power.
First he achieved wealth through the fortune you and your son created. For decades he has been one of the wealthiest men on the planet.
He achieved fame by ingeniously branding your name and his image all over his companies and in major cities across the nation.
And in the twilight stages of his life he achieved ultimate power by obtaining the most sacred career an American-born person could ever achieve. President of the United States of America.
On paper, in those basic details, it would appear that everything you worked for for your family and future generations paid off beautifully.
Unfortunately, that is not what happened because there are details. Details that make your grandson powerful not from respect, but from fear.
He achieved his power not by knowledge and experience, but by his wealth and fame.
Millions have come to abhor him, millions now fear him, millions have been saddened by him, and hundreds and counting have already have had their lives ruined by him.
And within 10 days after becoming the 45th Commander in Chief, he betrayed you. Using his power to temporarily ban travel from seven relatively safe countries, a decision that many believe was irrational and made out of prejudice, and will likely be confirmed in the future.
Almost one century after your death, the country you left, Germany, and the country you entered have switched roles in leadership. Germany, for decades, was one of the most unfortunate countries to live in and was under tumultuous leadership. America was the opposite with great leaders and was the best country to live in. Now that image is beginning to reverse because from the ashes of hate and borders comes a Germany that has become one of the leading democracies in the world. In the United States, meanwhile, your grandson is probably (unknowingly) deconstructing the free world with the same principles the leaders of old Germany built their foundation on.
This is not all of your fault, obviously, because you did not live to see your grandson nor were given enough time to influence your son on parenting, but I’m sure this irony forever attached to your family name should weigh on your conscious heavily, wherever you are.
The world is far away from what it was when you were last here. The changes this country and the planet have taken should seem to you both terrifying and exciting.
Maybe you were the root of all evil that you passed to your son and was passed to his, or maybe your family’s root of humble beginnings died with you.
Regardless of whether or not you side with your grandson, you should remember this: If President Grover Cleveland had banned travel from Germany in 1885 for reasons most likely bias or prejudice, you would be outraged. You would be devastated. Your dream would die because of one powerful man's ignorance. You, your son, grandson, and the rest of your descendants never would have gotten the chance to thrive in pursuit of the Great American Dream you began that very year.
Although millions now despise your family name for every negative thing associated with it, I at least sympathize with you knowing that the name you sacrificed a lot for is now forever tainted in the American lexicon. Perhaps by the time the century-mark of your passing reaches next year, the great family empire you began will fall for good.
Whether or not you think it’s well-deserved, it should not be forgotten that the man who worked the hardest to build the foundation of that name is now tied-in with it’s infamy.
With Regards,
21st Century America
