In response to duties imposed on foreign goods by the U.S. government, a leading international publication called out the U.S. policy, predicting that political and economic upheaval would follow.

That dire prediction — made by The London Standard in 1896 (at that time known as The Standard) — did not quite pan out. Instead, the U.S. economy enjoyed a renaissance, ushering in an era of financial prosperity that has continued to this day.

Although today's financial dynamics differ from those of that time, one core principle has remained the same — a fundamental reality that entwines President William McKinley’s philosophy with that of President Trump. That is American exceptionalism — the idea that the American people are capable of so much more than what the naysayers believe of them.

Since free trade began in earnest during the 1990s with NAFTA, this aspect of U.S. economics became a sort of holy grail for politicians. The allure of cheap goods was deemed too great to tamper with. It wasn’t something to be questioned, from the left or the right — so much so, that many people didn’t even know that American companies were competing at a........

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