Carl Jung was whispering to me again last night, “Synchronicity.  Look for the coincidences.  They are there if only you look.”  My attention then turned to a discussion on cable news.  The pundits, as they have for several weeks, were comparing the current political situation to Watergate.  Not surprisingly, the debate turned to the speed in which events were unfolding.  At that point, one panelist suggested the timing feels more like late 1972, months after the break-in at Democratic headquarters, than August 8, 1974 when Richard Nixon eventually departed the White House.

Of course, 1972.  What else happened in 1972?  A terrorist attack at the Berlin Olympic games.  Nixon travels to China.  Britain takes direct control over Northern Ireland.  The first SALT agreement.  I failed to see any obvious connection.  Fortunately, however, Jung’s apparition had company.  The ghost of Oscar Wilde reminded me, “Art imitates life more than life imitates art.”

And there it was.  March 24, 1972.  The release date of Francis Ford Coppola’s academy award winning motion picture The Godfather.  It was the scene in Vito Corleone’s (Marlon Brando) garden, days before the elder Don’s death, when he shares his regret that favored son Michael (Al Pacino) has succeeded him as head of the family.

I knew that Santino (James Caan) was going to have to go through all this.  And Fredo (John Cazale)…well…Fredo was…well.  But I never…I never wanted this for you.  I worked my whole life, I don’t apologize, to take care of my family.  And I refused to be a fool dancing on the string, held by all those big shots.  I don’t apologize that’s my life but I thought that…that when it was your time that…that you wold be the one to hold the strings.  Senator Corleone.  Governor Corleone, or something…

Although Michael comforts his father by replying, “Another pezzonovante,” he already knows there are too many skeletons in the Corleone closet which might be disclosed in the heat of a political campaign.  [NOTE:  “Pezzonovante” is literally translated as “.95 caliber,” but is also Sicilan slang for “big shot.”]  Michael’s future is set.  His primary imperative is to protect the family and its businesses.

Which brings us to the legacy of Frederick Christ Trump, the godfather of his own family business.  Like Vito Corleone, the elder Trump was under constant legal scrutiny including charges of profiteering from federal contracts and violations of the Fair Housing Act.  But like Mario Puzzo’s godfather, he too dreamed at least some of his offspring would bring a level of honor and legitimacy to the Trump name.  And in the case of his oldest daughter  Maryanne Trump Barry, his hope was fulfilled.  Barry received a law degree from Hofstra University and served as both a district judge in New Jersey and on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals until her retirement in 2011.

But there was also a Fredo except his nickname was Freddy.  (Yes Dr. Jung.  I know.  I know.) Frederick Trump, Jr., like Fredo, did not fit the family mold.  He sought refuge outside the family circle, for example, joining a Jewish fraternity at Lehigh University.  Unable to deal with his father’s demand for perfection, Freddy became a pilot for Trans World Airlines until his continuing bout with alcoholism became a safety issue.  Freddy died in 1981 at the age of 43, but not before his father posthumously signaled his disdain for a son he considered weak and irresponsible.

Then came the unveiling of Fred Sr.’s will, which Donald had helped draft. It divided the bulk of the inheritance, at least $20 million, among his children and their descendants, “other than my son Fred C. Trump Jr.” (Source, New York Times, January 2, 2016)

Which brings us to the Santino or “Sonny” on the Trump family tree, none other than “Donny” himself.  Consider the following excerpts from Sonny’s character biography on IMDB.

Sonny is the most impulsive and violent of Vito’s children and, before Michael’s rise to power, the most involved in his father’s criminal operations.

Although Sonny has a wife, Sandra, and four children, he frequently cheats on Sandra with other women. At the time of the film, he has carried on a long-running affair with Lucy Mancini, who served as one of his sister’s bridesmaids.

In the original Godfather saga, if Sonny had survived, the future of the Corleone family might have paralleled that of Trump’s up until June 16, 2015, the day Donny launched his campaign for president.  No doubt, Sonny would have fancied himself as a self-made man (despite being handed the keys to the family Mercedes) and as irresistible to women.  Here is where the stories diverge.  Sonny would have accepted his destiny, the next head of the family enterprise.  More legitimate career pursuits were not in his future.  That would be left to siblings.

Too bad Frederick Trump, Sr.,  a man whose middle name was “Christ” did not impress upon his son Donald the advice of his namesake.  “Render under Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and to the Family the things that are the Family’s.”  If he had done so, the Trump family, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, would have been free to continue selling clothing made in China and making real estate deals wherever and with whomever they chose.  More importantly, they would not be currently starring in “A Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue.”   And neither would the United States of America.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP