9 February:

Donald Trump thrived in the military school atmosphere.

With it's rigid schedules he learned time management and physical disciplines. He volunteered for extra duty and played a full array of sports, excelling at baseball. So much so that he was scouted by several major league clubs including the Philadelphia Phillies.

He 'found himself'. A leader on the field and a defender of the weak, he stood up for smaller friends in confrontations. His eye for the ladies became apparent as well.

His yearbook claimed him a 'ladies man'. This turned out to be a sage assessment.

Mentioning all of this is important. Most people out there are split into two large camps and one relatively tiny one.

There are those who like him and follow him unquestioningly. There are those who loathe the very mention of his name. Then there are those who 'get' the man.

The keys to understanding him, which is actually pretty important seeing he is the President, are fairly easy to assess. One just has to remove the ideological blinders, whether pro or con, and smell the big cup of coffee that he really is.

So far you've learned he was raised in a blue collar atmosphere yet with plenty of money. That presents contradiction #1.

He acts like a someone running a drill press but lives like the Aga Khan. In his universe this is completely normal, and his business dealings are his life, just like designing aircraft was Howard Hughes' raison d' etre.

The opponents who think he is trying to somehow profit on his presidency read him totally wrong. It broke his heart not to be able to 'make deals' anymore. Turning the reins over to sons Eric and Don Jr was a hard thing to do.

His detractors have mounted a boycott against both him and the business dealings of his children. Where many seemed worried he might make a dollar here or there in the 'conflict of interest' scenarios, at least so far his daughter is taking a pounding from the boycott.

Those united against him will never let up on this unless he takes a multi billion dollar loss, and even then they'd just move to another area of disagreement.

So, his business is his life. His ascent to the Presidency has, if nothing else, taken him out of an arena he dearly loves. That's called 'sacrifice'.

It doesn't matter whether one likes it or thinks it adequate. He isn't in this to please people.

Yet he definitely wants to be liked. Therein lies yet another contradiction. In his universe he has turned his back on the one thing he loves to embrace that what he truly loves, which is his country.

For you see, he is as red blooded a patriot as they come; in the old school John Wayne mold. This was inculcated in him early, and codified at the academy. This is not a guess, nor is it meant as a compliment.

It is a statement of fact. Accept it or you will never get his motivations.

NEXT:

His life as a entrepreneur and how that shapes his politics