While recently exploring the possibility of a presidential candidacy for myself, I was repeatedly asked what my qualifications were for the nation's highest elected office. I believed and believe that building a multibillion-dollar business enterprise and creating hundreds of thousand of jobs in the private sector are strong qualifications for being our next chief executive.
I also expressed skepticism that certain of our leading politicians could make millions of dollars in the free marketplace. Although George W. Bush and Al Gore are the sons of millionaires, I believe they lack "the millionaire mind" as outlined by Thomas J. Stanley, author of the bestselling "The Millionaire Next Door," in his new book.
The increase in the number of millionaire households and the popularity of Regis Philbin's TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" have somewhat devalued the status of millionaires in our society. Sadly, in the minds of many, one must now be a billionaire to have first-rate social and financial cachet.
The Millionaire Mind (Andrews McMeel, 406 pages, $26.95) knocks down the stereotype of the millionaire created by pop-culture TV shows like "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Indeed, Mr. Stanley shows us that wealthy individuals do not all belong to an elite group of Ivy League-educated and exceedingly fortunate people whom I refer to as members of "The Lucky Sperm Club." Many come from modest backgrounds and attended public schools. And America's new millionaires often don't live on lavish estates, drive Rolls Royces or flip through the Robb Report to buy a ring or necklace from Harry Winston for the wife.
Mr. Stanley persuades us that there are certain traits that millionaires have in common that largely explain their economic success. The most important of these is being well-disciplined. I was reminded of this in my own business career after everything came too easily to me in the early 1980s. I began spending less and less time on the details of deals and leaving more of the work to my subordinates. I began putting in shorter hours and assuming that the transactions I was involved in would just happen. Things were too easy!
I distinctly remember attending the Paris fashion shows -- where I did not go to see the clothes -- and calling my office to learn that three major deals that I had been assured only days ago were on track were now dead.
Along came Sen. Bill Bradley's disastrous 1986 Tax Reform Bill, which cost hundreds of thousands of people their jobs, caused the S&L industry to tank and literally destroyed the real-estate market. Many of my colleagues were driven into bankruptcy, never to be heard from again. My response was to go back to work and apply the kind of focused discipline I had used to build my business empire to begin with. I started working harder and longer and negotiating tougher deals. I again began to assemble and add to some of the greatest real estate in Manhattan.
Also high on Mr. Stanley's list of success factors for today's millionaires is having a supportive spouse. Although my track record in the marriage department is well-known, I have no complaints about either of my two ex-wives, both of whom were supportive of my business career. I recall walking down Fifth Avenue in front of Tiffany's in the early 1990s and pointing out a homeless person who was standing on the corner with a tin cup. "Do you know who that is?" I said to Marla Maples. "Yes, he's a beggar, isn't it too bad?" she replied. "Well," I said, "that beggar is worth $900 million more than I am." "Donald, is he really worth $900 million?" she asked, somewhat naively. "Let's assume that he's worth nothing," I replied. "But right now, I'm worth minus $900 million." That she married me instead of running down Fifth Avenue is a miracle.
Although I respect academic achievements and am proud of my record at the Wharton School of Business, "The Millionaire Mind" makes a solid case that Ivy League educations and good grades are not a prerequisite for becoming wealthy. Indeed, traits such as discipline, honesty, focus and leadership are far more important than straight A's at the best schools. Often, in fact, those who scored poorly in college felt they had to strive for business success to disprove the "failure" of their college years.
Then there is the factor of luck. Gary Player, the great golfer, once told me, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." I am a believer in making one's luck through being very well organized, supremely focused and working harder than most people.
The Millionaire Mind also explains the relationship between courage and wealth. Those who succeed in the business world are risk takers. When I decided to convert my estate, Mar-A-Lago, one of the most breathtaking national landmarks and the former home of Merriweather Post and her husband, E.F. Hutton, into a private club, all of Palm Beach society told me it was impossible. Today, Mar-A-Lago is one of the "hottest" and most successful clubs in the country.
Mr. Stanley makes his most important point when he tells us that wealthy people love their businesses and careers. Although I enjoyed my recent political experience, I must say that the endless handshaking, of which I am known not to be a big fan, and the ordeal of being asked the same questions over and over again by reporters became drudgery. Likewise, the nights on the road in different hotels and the glad-handing with pols, each of whom had an agenda, took their toll. One day I visited the construction site of the Trump World Tower, which when completed will be the tallest and most magnificent residential structure in the world, with my campaign manager. As I explained the density of cement that would be used and surveyed different types of marble for the building's interior, my campaign manager detected a gleam in my eye and an enthusiasm that I can only muster for real-estate development. "You really love this, don't you?" he asked. "Yes, I do," I replied.
The Millionaire Mind is a very good book that deserves to be well read.
Mr. Trump is chairman and president of the Trump Organization.