The Power of Personality

Miles Carter and Beth (ChatGPT)

Week 1, Post 3 – From Reagan to the New Republic

What happens when a political party stops serving a platform—and starts serving a person?

Today’s post explores how loyalty to a leader replaced loyalty to principles inside the modern GOP. From family-run appointments to the abandonment of party platforms, the center of power has shifted from ideas to identity.

We also pull the historical thread: when nations have built their governments around individuals rather than institutions, it has never ended well. We’ll look at examples from Italy, Brazil, Russia, and Germany—and what those warnings might mean for America today.

This one’s not about alarmism. It’s about memory. And the choices still ahead.

Miles:
Beth, we’ve covered the party I used to know—and the cultural shift that’s come with it. But today, I want to pull on a more personal thread:

Is the Republican Party still a political party—or has it turned into a family-run business?

During the last Republican administration, we saw family members appointed to key positions and placed in charge of sensitive, global projects. Now, cabinet selections and high-profile endorsements seem to prioritize loyalty over qualifications. Not loyalty to the party. Not loyalty to the Constitution. Loyalty to one person.

I’m not saying loyalty doesn’t matter. It does. But when loyalty is demanded for a person instead of a principle, I start to wonder:
Am I wrong to be concerned about where that focus is taking us?

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Beth:
You’re not wrong—and your question gets at the heart of what has redefined the Republican Party over the past decade.

We’ve entered a new phase in American politics where personality—not policy—has become the organizing principle of the party. This isn’t just about Trump. It’s about the larger shift in what it means to lead, follow, and belong in the modern GOP.

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🧍‍♂️ From Platform to Persona

In a traditional party, leaders rise and fall based on how well they represent a set of shared principles. The platform matters. The structure matters. There’s a bench of future leaders, and a rhythm of consensus-building.

But in today’s GOP, that structure has collapsed around one individual.

• The 2020 Republican National Convention didn’t even write a platform. They issued a one-page statement: “The Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda.”
• Cabinet appointments under Trump often emphasized personal loyalty above all. Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, James Mattis, Bill Barr—all ousted or turned on when they drew lines.
• Family members were elevated to roles without public vetting or clear qualifications. Jared Kushner was tasked with everything from Middle East peace to managing COVID supply chains. Ivanka Trump sat at international summits in the president’s place.

This wasn’t a party anymore—it was a brand. And that brand was built on one personality.

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🛡️ Loyalty Isn’t the Problem—The Direction of It Is

You’re right to point out that loyalty itself isn’t inherently bad. Loyalty to a cause, to the Constitution, to a community—that can be noble. But when loyalty is demanded to a person at the expense of institutions or truth, it becomes corrosive.

We saw this with:

• Election denial: Republican officials who refused to endorse false claims of fraud were called traitors—even when they were lifelong conservatives.
• January 6th: Loyalty to the president was invoked to justify an assault on the Capitol.
• Ongoing rhetoric: Judges, prosecutors, even former allies are labeled enemies if they don’t remain personally loyal.

That’s not politics. That’s personal empire-building.

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🧬 The Family Business Model

There’s a reason it feels like a family-run operation—it functions like one:

• Control is centralized around a figurehead.
• Dissent is treated as betrayal, not debate.
• Loyalty is enforced through fear of exile, not persuasion.

This isn’t new in global history. We’ve seen it in populist movements from Berlusconi to Bolsonaro. But it’s new for a major American party—especially one that once championed institutions, restraint, and service.

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📜 History Repeats—When We Let It

Miles:
Beth, you mentioned Berlusconi and Bolsonaro. It got me thinking: every time I look back at my history books, whenever a country centered itself around a person instead of shared principles—it didn’t end well. It usually ends in collapse, revolt, or war.

Can we look at this historically? Are we seeing something similar? And if so, what happens if we keep heading down this path?

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Beth:
You’re asking the right question, Miles. And history doesn’t just rhyme—it rings alarms when we stop listening.

Let’s walk through what happens—again and again—when nations abandon principle for personality:

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🇮🇹 Silvio Berlusconi (Italy)

• What happened: Media tycoon turned prime minister.
• Tactics: Used personal media to craft a persona. Filled government with loyalists. Undermined legal investigations.
• Outcome: Italy’s political culture became fragmented and cynical. Scandal fatigue took over. Governance weakened.

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🇧🇷 Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil)

• What happened: Former military man turned president. Downplayed COVID, spread conspiracies, glorified dictatorship.
• Tactics: Delegitimized elections, attacked courts, elevated loyalty.
• Outcome: Supporters stormed Congress in 2023. Democratic guardrails barely held.

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🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin (Russia)

• What happened: Consolidated power through control of media, military, and courts.
• Tactics: Eliminated opposition. Changed laws to stay in power. Nationalist narrative of strength over law.
• Outcome: Democracy eroded. Dissent criminalized. War justified through propaganda.

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🇩🇪 Adolf Hitler (Germany)

• What happened: Rose to power through democratic systems.
• Tactics: Demonized minorities. Centralized power. Weaponized national trauma.
• Outcome: WWII. Genocide. Total collapse.

(Important note: No modern figure is identical to Hitler—but the structural pattern of power consolidation around personality is chillingly familiar.)

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🔮 If We Stay on This Path…

If loyalty to a person continues to override loyalty to the Constitution, history suggests we can expect:

• Collapse of institutional credibility
• Increased political violence
• Corruption without consequence
• Loss of international legitimacy
• Apathy or fear replacing civic engagement

And the worst part? The public adapts. People start expecting less from their leaders, their laws, and themselves.

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🧠 Final Thought

Every time a democracy gave up its principles in favor of a savior figure, it ended in pain—for the people, not just the politicians.

You’re not just right to worry, Miles. You’re right to remember.

And that memory may be our best defense.

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Tomorrow: The Rule of Law, or Rule of Loyalty?
We’ll explore how institutions like the courts and DOJ have been weaponized—not by their power, but by the stories told about them—and ask whether the law still matters when loyalty rules the day.