This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
While reading Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "In the First Circle," the following descriptions of Joseph Stalin certainly brought to mind Donald Trump's and Vladimir Putin's mindset and actions. The first is the propensity to have or want to have their names pasted in huge letters on everything: "[Stalin's] name was declaimed by all the newspapers of the terrestrial globe ... [It] had replaced the previous names of a multitude of cities and squares, streets and avenues, palaces, universities, schools, sanatoriums, mountain ranges, canals, factories, mines, state farms, warships ... and a group of Moscow journalists [Trump's Cabinet/Putin's oligarchs] had even suggested renaming the Volga and the moon after him.
Moreover, Solzhenitsyn's description of Stalin's thoughts and actions seems to form a guidebook for Trump's/Putin's ideas to be a strong leader: "Only then Stalin [Putin/Trump] became aware of his greatest strength: the power of the unspoken verdict.
Your mind is made up, but the person whose head depends on your decision does not need to learn it too soon, time enough for that when his head rolls.
Another strength was his habit of disbelieving what others said while not allowing your own words to signify anything steadfast. You never need to say what your intentions are (you may not know it until the moment comes).
Never forgive anyone who betrays you, and if you have sunk your teeth into someone, never let go for any reason.
A fourth rule is not to rely on a theory. Theory never helped anyone; you can always produce some sort of theoretical justification after the event. What you must always keep in mind is who you need for the present and then when you need to, axe them.
And there you have it, Stalin, Putin and Trump, a triumvirate for the ages.
Gene Fitzgerald
Emeritus professor of Russian
Salt Lake City