He is in many ways a throwback to a simpler time, one of the reasons his foes keep trying to brand him as simple-minded. He is anything but that. Not long ago, the American television audience was enthralled by a show called Madmen, which depicted the men and women of what has become known as “The Golden Age of Advertising,” when creative, rascally writers and producers pioneered the Post-World War II American Dream of better living through ads for consumer products of unimaginably diverse purpose and appeal. They made the entertainment networks rich, as well as thousands of manufacturers and service providers. In the process they also invented the mystique of Manhattan/Madison Avenue sophistication, a brand new world of movers and shakers who were seen to make extraordinary things happen, seemingly overnight and usually with a martini in hand and a mischievous gleam in their eyes. Trump was of that mold from the first, except for the martini, and he constructed a media myth of himself along with dozens of skyscrapers named after himself all over the world. He was lavished with attention and grudging affection until he decided to run for president. Which is when the firestorm began. The Madmen of Madison Avenue were out of style in Washington DC and in the corridors of power on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley. They saw a Trump on their turf as a dangerous throwback and they dedicated themselves to his complete destruction. It proved to be a colossal, constant, and cruel confrontation on both sides, one that is chronicled on this website in appropriate multimedia form. Review the Pages and pick your poisons. It should be a fun if harrowing ride.
