From the time he kicked off his presidential campaign in June 2015 at his namesake Trump Tower in New York City, Mr Trump seemed an unlikely candidate for the nation’s highest office. But his controversial personality triumphed amid a crowded Republican primary field and he then pulled off a surprising victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. On November 8, 2016, Donald John Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States, after he had teased the American public for nearly 30 years he might run for the presidency.
Mike Dunbar, the man who, according to 2017 documentary “Trump: An American Dream”, planted the seed the original seed for the business tycoon to run for the nation’s highest office, saw his dream come true after almost three decades that day.
In 1987, Mr Dunbar, a conservative freelance writer of Portsmouth, started a “Draft Trump for President” movement and arranged for the business man to speak at his Rotary luncheon.
Mr Dunbar was unhappy with the Republicans’ White House hopefuls for the 1988 elections, including Vice President George Bush and Sen. Bob Dole.
He explained in the documentary: “Donald Trump came up on my radar screen and I decided this is the guy.
“This is the stationary i came up with: ‘The Committee to draft Donald Trump for President’.
“Coordinator Mike Dunbar stated that the Draft Trump committee has two objectives, which are convince Donald Trump to declare his candidacy for President and put in place an organisation that will enable him to win New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary.’
“I always spoke in the first person plural, we, so that it sounded like there was a group, but it was just me.”
In the interview, Mr Dunbar recalls inviting the business mogul to speak in New Hampshire at a Rotary luncheon, expecting him to declare his candidacy
He said: “Seeing it all come true right before my eyes.
“Out steps Donald Trump and I am there to greet him. I was nervous.
“It is one thing to be out starting a draft Trump movement, but it is another thing to actually produce Donald Trump.
“I had a lot riding on this because if he said ‘I am am running’, my life was going to change.”
However, Mr Trump crashed his dreams that night, as during the speech, he told the audience that he was not looking to run for President.
The then-41-years-old reportedly agreed to speak at the Rotary luncheon so that he could promote his new book “The Art of the Deal”.