Donald Trump may be banned from Twitter for life. But his Tweeting habits may change the Presidency forever. Here's why:

Imagine if the President of the United States began almost every day speaking directly to the American people - in his own unfiltered words - and through a platform that not only allowed virtually anyone to receieve the President's message instantly, but to deliver a response right back to him in a matter of seconds.

And now imagine if those words - direct from the President's fingertips (not a staffer's) to the smartphones of tens of millions of followers - were intended to inspire, to motivate, to reassure, to comfort, maybe even to amuse from time to time, and most certainly to celebrate the best of America and all Americans.

President Trump - experiencing his final White House days following a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by his own words - may be remembered most for his near-daily Twitter habit and his early morning missives to America. For the foreseeable future he has been relieved of the privilege: banished by Twitter indefinitely.

But if Donald Trump on Twitter - the tantrums, the personal attacks, the outrageous words, the dog-whistle incitements and the pre-dawn message bombs - represent to many people the worst of his presidential profile, looking closely at the way he used the platform (agnostic to the actual content) must lead to the conclusion that he connected with people in a way no other president ever has.

Americans have a right to demand such real and regular communications - direct and unfiltered - from future presidents.

@realDonaldTrump tweeted more than 34,000 times between his declaration as a presidential candidate in 2015 through the suspension of his account by Twitter on January 8, 2021. By the end he had amassed close to 90 million followers. By the final day he was active on Twitter, President Trump was averaging more than 34 tweets per day. That is no less than a running dialogue with the American people almost all day - every day - in the bonafide real and unmistakable words of Trump himself. On June 5, 2020 he Tweeted 200 times.

Americans have a right to demand such real and regular communications - direct and unfiltered - from future presidents.

Donald Trump wasn't the first sitting president to use Twitter - that distinction belongs to Barack Obama. And elected officials at every level and in every state are communicating daily with constituents, colleagues and other stakeholders over Twitter and other social media platforms.

But even as Obama - in announcing his "personal" @potus account in 2015 - pledged that all tweets would be in own words, Americans probably never felt they were getting the kind of real and unvarnished version of him as president that Trump delivered on most days during his entire presidency. Prior to that he had introduced @BarackObama in 2011. But the level of personality transparency was always limited: mostly indistinguishable from formal presidential comments, missives and remarks.

No question President Trump's use of Twitter was a negative and at times even destructive force during his presidency. In fact, that is probably the overiding view - especially in the wake of January 6. But that makes it no less pioneering, no less unique and remarkable, and no less valuable as a potential tool for future presidents.

"He prefers to issue major announcements himself over social media, whether policy moves or staff firings," Politico noted in a March 2020 piece on Trump's approach to White House communications. "Trump has built his style of communicating around the pillars of political grievances, conspiracy theories and targeting perceived enemies. Most of all, he prefers to dictate and dominate the news cycle."

Remove the negativity and the outrageous statements, and a president using his captive Twitter audience and speaking directly to Americans could be incredibly effective - and productive - as a communicator.

How President-elect Joe Biden uses Twitter once he occupies the Oval Office remains to be seen. It seems at least likely, if not certain, that @JoeBiden's Twitter personality and relationship to Americans will remain on its current, stable, unremarkable and predictable path. Some would argue the nation could use a return to normalcy in the Tweeting from its president.

Remove the negativity and the outrageous statements, and a president using his captive Twitter audience and speaking directly to Americans could be incredibly effective - and productive - as a communicator.

There is probably a reasonable middle ground that Biden and other future candidates and presidents might want to explore: allowing more of themselves into their Tweets, and more of their casual language and informal first thoughts on a daily basis - if not 34 times a day or 200. Lose the hostility and the attack posture, but keep the personal touch and place a high value on communicating directly with the American people - so that there is no question it's the real you.

Donald Trump has contributed that to the presidency of the United States - even if he is never allowed to Tweet ever again.

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