Opinion/Chaput: Trump and the lessons of Reconstruction Erik J. Chaput Erik J. Chaput, Ph.D., is the author of "The People’s Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion" (2013). He teaches American history at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and in the School of Continuing Education at Providence College. In the months ahead, historians will be asked to formulate their thoughts on the end of the presidency of Donald J. Trump so new chapters in textbooks can be written. In chapters on the Age of Trump, attention will surely be placed on the Jan. 6 attack and the insurgents, some carrying Confederate flags, who stormed the U.S. Capitol.