The Grand Illusion
With all the polls and furor about who supports Joe Biden for President and who doesn’t – and the same for Donald Trump – there’s another question that’s being overlooked.
That question? Who will each of them pick for the White House staff and the Cabinet and how well will those individuals work together and for the next President?
While it’s apparent that Biden has put together an administration that can work together, that wasn’t often the case in the previous Trump administration. Even more telling is that very few people who worked closely with Trump, especially at the highest levels, seem willing to repeat the experience, and the horror stories that have seeped out suggest that Trump is either extraordinarily difficult to work for or that he’s terrible at picking a team that will work together for any length of time… or perhaps both.
This isn’t surprising, given the management style Trump has revealed, which requires absolute one-way loyalty that often is only rewarded until someone disagrees or cannot achieve what Trump wants in the way he wants it. This proved a problem in the Trump administration when Trump demanded acts and/or policies and implementation that were either impossible in a practical way, illegal, or unconstitutional. That hasn’t changed, but is continuing now when lawyers are unable or unwilling to act as Trump directs.
Since Trump shows absolutely no signs of changing his authoritarian leadership and management style, it’s likely that, if he’s re-elected, we’ll have more administration chaos and continual turnover in officials and staff, at least until all those appointees who follow the law and the Constitution are fired or otherwise removed.
You think otherwise? Then why did Trump want his vice-president hanged for following the law and the procedures in place for over two hundred years? What makes you think Trump will change in the slightest?
Nothing makes me think Trump will change in the slightest. Not even jail would do that. Worth putting him in there anyway, though. (Yes, yes, assuming he’s found guilty through due process.)
“ … Worth putting him in there anyway, though. …” The White House is what Congressional Republicans and some Congressional Democrats might see as appropriate because he can then be blamed for the more rapid demise of the US into an oligarchy?
“ … leadership and management style … “ For some years now I have used my opinion of the presidential candidate’s election team as some sort of evidence as to the candidate’s CEO capabilities; because, that seems to be what is required by government officials in addition to political savvy. The Grand Illusion Series bolstered my theory somewhat but still painted most of the Councilors as being able.
There are at least 18 Departments that advise the POTUS: https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/executive-office-of-the-president/
Apart from his “close” advisors (a potential bunch of Iagos) he has to know the 18 department heads well enough to know what he is getting, when he reads or hears, reports and advice.
Not an easy job and probably better done better by someone in US administration for many years.