Donald Trump has a sister, Maryanne Trump Barry. She graduated cum laude with a Bacheor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1958, and took a Master of Arts in public law and government from Columbia University in 1962. After an interim, probably to have her son, she received her J. D. from Hofstra.
She rose through the ranks as a US attorney and was appointed as a judge by Reagan to the US district court for NJ. She rose from there to the Third Circuit when Clinton nominated her and she was unanimously approved.
Barry's reputation on the bench was that of a tough judge with strong command of her courtroom.[2] In 1989, while a district court judge in Newark, New Jersey, she disapproved a plea bargaining deal that would have freed two county detectives accused of protecting a drug dealer, and forced the case to trial. The detectives were convicted and received jail terms. She also presided over the conviction of Louis Manna, the Genovese crime family boss accused of plotting to assassinate rival John Gotti.[2]
I think it is safe to say that Maryanne is smarter than Donald. This situation challenges many of our notions of men and women. Broadly speaking, men can respond to a smarter sister in one of two ways: warm appreciation for her gifts and accomplishments or corrosive jealousy.
I have seen the first in action with my mentor at MIT. He was notable there for the number of women in his lab and for their successes later on as professors. When I had gotten to know him well and felt safe asking, I asked him why. He said, “My older sister was smarter than me. It never occurred to me to think women were limited.”
My own brothers show both reactions. My older brother has always admired my work and expressed enjoyment and appreciation. My second brother has always been dismissive of anything I do.
Intriguingly, the reaction to a sister may foster or reveal a wider reaction to women as well. My older brother is enjoying his fourth decade with his first wife. My other brother is on his third partner after some of the kinds of marital high jinks that Trump has in his record.
How do you think Donald J. Trump feels about the Honorable Maryanne Trump Barry?