Roy Cohn and the Origins of Trump's Tactics
Understand how McCarthy's lawyer influenced the US president
After Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election, the then-president-elect remembered Roy Cohn, his former mentor, generating great interest in searches for this name. The memory reignited discussions about Cohn's influence on Trump's strategies.
Who was Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn gained notoriety in the 1950s as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was responsible for anti-communist persecutions. Later, he served as a lawyer and "fixer" for powerful New York figures, such as Cardinal Francis Spellman, businessman George Steinbrenner, and media mogul Si Newhouse, as well as mobsters like "Fat Tony" Salerno and John Gotti.
Relationship with Donald Trump
Trump met Cohn in 1973 while seeking guidance on a federal lawsuit accusing his family business of racial discrimination. Cohn suggested a countersuit for defamation, though the strategy did not succeed; the case ultimately ended in a settlement with no admission of guilt. Both shared the view that the law was a tool to achieve goals, not a set of rules.
Strategies learned
According to journalist Sam Roberts, quoted in the book "American Scoundrel," Trump learned three fundamental lessons from Cohn: never back down, counterattack immediately, and claim victory even in unfavorable situations. These tactics appear repeatedly in Trump's actions, in both the business and political spheres.
Power profile and controversies
Cohn was known for his aggressiveness and for using intimidation to achieve results, such as in the prosecution of the Rosenbergs and the persecution of federal employees suspected of homosexuality. Despite his public homophobic stance, he kept his own sexual orientation a secret, living a double life that included parties and properties related to adult entertainment.
Legacy and current impact
The book "American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey From Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump," by Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark, highlights that Cohn not only survived criminal trials, but also modeled a style of operating that favors an outsider image against a hostile establishment, a strategy that Trump adopted upon entering politics. Trump's mention of Cohn reignited the debate over how practices from decades past still influence the contemporary political landscape.
With information from The Atlantic.
Source: The Atlantic