Son rise over the White House
Apart from US president-elect Donald Trump, the name making the headlines is Jared Kushner, his 36-year-old Jewish son-in-law. Earlier, the president- elect’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump said she and her husband Kushner had already stepped away from their business firms and moved to Washington DC’s posh Kalorama district, where the Obamas too will spend their days after retirement. Also, when Kushner begins his innings as senior advisor to the White House, Ivanka will take over the duties of the presidential wife. First Lady Melania Trump will continue to live in New York until her son Barron completes his school year. The New York Times has already crowned Ivanka as the most influential first daughter since Alice Roosevelt Longworth and with Kushner, the two are set to become the most powerful couple in Washington circles.
Among the small group of advisers who accompanied Trump to his first visit to the White House, Kushner was the only family member. Although Jared has no administrative experience, as a shrewd and trusted manager of the Trump campaign, Kushner was capable of curbing his father-in-law’s worst instincts and helped Trump navigate through his myriad self-inflicted crises.
Kushner’s only qualifications: His family ties and devotion to his father-in-law. But his power is unlikely to be rivalled by anyone. As a sign of Trump’s trust, the president-elect has named Kushner as a special envoy to resolve the Israel-Palestine tangle that has confounded America’s brightest for decades!
In his first interview with The Times this week, Trump praised Kushner saying he “knows the people, knows the players” and will work to “broker a Middle East peace deal”. Kushner had drafted Trump’s speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that drew praise last week.
Kushner was raised at an Orthodox Jewish home and his grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Ivanka had converted to Orthodox Judaism before the couple’s wedding in 2009. Before that, Kushner family’s were objecting to the relationship as Ivanka was not a Jew. That was the reason for their brief breakup in 2008. The Jerusalem Post last week described Kushner as “someone who has a sense of Jewish identity, and someone who has a genuine attachment to Israel”.
Kushner’s friends remember him as rich yet mediocre guy. He went to New York University and Harvard. Coincidentally, his father had donated $3 billion and $2.5 billion to the colleges. Jared took over his father’s business at the early age of 27 when his father, Charles Kushner, served a prison term for tax fraud, witness tampering, and illegal campaign donations in 2008. Charles was a top political donor but gave large sums to mostly Democratic candidates, including the Clintons.
Kushner publicly confesses his admiration for Franklin D Roosevelt and John F Kennedy, both Democrats. Kushner had reportedly persuaded Trump to fire his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and later advised to pick Reince Preibus as the White House chief of staff. Chris Christie was being considered for the role of Trump’s running mate but Kushner disapproved it and made sure Mike Pence was picked. Chris later took charge of Trump’s transition team but Kushner again ensured his exit. Recently, Trump has named Reed Cordish, another Jew, Kushner’s friend, as assistant to the president for intra-governmental and technology initiatives. Kushner has access to the presidential daily brief which is usually restricted to the president, vice-president and select Cabinet-level officials.
Meanwhile, the anti-Trump and anti-Kushner grumble continues. Groups of Democrats have asked the Justice Department and Office of Government Ethics to investigate nepotism and conflict of interest. But, the ‘wise man’ of Republicans, Henry Kissinger, who is also described as an informal adviser to Trump told Forbes last December: “Every president I’ve ever known has one or two people he intuitively and structurally trusts ... I think Jared might be that person.” And Kushner’s instance is not the first example of nepotism in American history.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s appointment as the assistant director to Office of Civilian Defence during World War II and Hillary Clinton becoming the head of Bill Clinton’s health care task force during the early 1990s had both proven to be disastrous. During her campaign, Hillary had proposed to name Bill as her advisor for America’s impoverished communities. The backlash was swift and she backed off. When Robert Kennedy was made the attorney general, there was enormous discomfiture. But later, Robert somewhat redeemed himself and Kennedy’s assassination created sympathy. But it was Robert’s example that led to the enactment of nepotism law in 1967.
Hundred years ago, President Woodrow Wilson’s son-in-law, William Gibbs McAdoo, was the secretary of treasury, yet he is celebrated for helping America become a global power after World War I. McAdoo was Wilson’s campaign manager and was later appointed as secretary of the treasury—a position he continued to hold after marrying the president’s daughter. So to give the devil his due, even with shades of nepotism, while the Republicans stay largely silent, a handful of liberals have begun to speak in favour of Kushner as the only moderating influence on Trump.
He appears thoughtful and intelligent compared to Trump’s several other somewhat controversial nominations. He is also generally seen as a successful businessman, hands-on-father and a very private and genteel person who shuns social media even while professionally remaining up to speed with the digital world.
Swaran Singh
Professor, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi
Email: ssingh@jnu.ac.in