Yuval Levin

And that means that ultimately the character of the president matters enormously. The character of Congress is a kind of average of 535 people. The character of the president is one person's character. And that means that we need in our presidents the kind of character that we want from the executive branch. This isn't an ideological thing.

And that means that ultimately the character of the president matters enormously. The character of Congress is a kind of average of 535 people. The character of the president is one person's character. And that means that we need in our presidents the kind of character that we want from the executive branch. This isn't an ideological thing.

There are conservative and progressive ways to have the right character to be our president. But it is really a matter of character. And so to my mind, look, there are a lot of things that the Trump administration did the first time and will do this time that I agree with as a matter of policy. But the fundamental problem of character cannot be gotten over. It is not ignorable.

There are conservative and progressive ways to have the right character to be our president. But it is really a matter of character. And so to my mind, look, there are a lot of things that the Trump administration did the first time and will do this time that I agree with as a matter of policy. But the fundamental problem of character cannot be gotten over. It is not ignorable.

And I think that it therefore is a permanent problem with Donald Trump being president. There's no way around it. I think that insight also goes to decision making.

And I think that it therefore is a permanent problem with Donald Trump being president. There's no way around it. I think that insight also goes to decision making.

I think this actually also gets to the character of presidential strength in an important way. And it was a problem for Biden and for Trump. A president is strong internally within the executive branch when the second tier political appointee knows what the president would do if he were in his job.

I think this actually also gets to the character of presidential strength in an important way. And it was a problem for Biden and for Trump. A president is strong internally within the executive branch when the second tier political appointee knows what the president would do if he were in his job.

The president doesn't want to think about what the undersecretary for blah, blah, blah in the Department of Labor is thinking about that day. But that person needs to have a sense that if the president were in this room, I basically know what he would say. And if you don't have that sense, it's very, very hard to make those small decisions that are essential to the big things working.

The president doesn't want to think about what the undersecretary for blah, blah, blah in the Department of Labor is thinking about that day. But that person needs to have a sense that if the president were in this room, I basically know what he would say. And if you don't have that sense, it's very, very hard to make those small decisions that are essential to the big things working.

I think both Trump and Biden had enormous trouble helping those people know what they would say. It wasn't that hard in the Obama years. It wasn't that hard in the Bush years. If you're sitting in some secondary office at HHS, and I had this experience myself in the Bush years, you kind of know if the president was here, he would go this way, not that way.

I think both Trump and Biden had enormous trouble helping those people know what they would say. It wasn't that hard in the Obama years. It wasn't that hard in the Bush years. If you're sitting in some secondary office at HHS, and I had this experience myself in the Bush years, you kind of know if the president was here, he would go this way, not that way.

And nobody thinks that way explicitly, but it's how you actually do your job. I think in the Biden administration, it was hard to know because the president didn't really express clear priorities about anything. It was very hard to know what mattered to him and where he would fall and everything.

And nobody thinks that way explicitly, but it's how you actually do your job. I think in the Biden administration, it was hard to know because the president didn't really express clear priorities about anything. It was very hard to know what mattered to him and where he would fall and everything.

Because he was so coalitional, nobody in those lower tiers could really have a clear sense of like, well, this really matters to the president. He would do this and not that. The problem with Trump was that he could go either way on anything at any time. And even if he's stated a clear position, he could say the opposite the next day.

Because he was so coalitional, nobody in those lower tiers could really have a clear sense of like, well, this really matters to the president. He would do this and not that. The problem with Trump was that he could go either way on anything at any time. And even if he's stated a clear position, he could say the opposite the next day.

And there's this kind of paralyzing fear of making a choice that then gets you tweeted about and getting on the wrong side of the president because you just have no idea where he's going to be. This was an enormous problem. The people throughout the government were much more afraid of getting on the wrong side of him than they were eager to advance his priorities.

And there's this kind of paralyzing fear of making a choice that then gets you tweeted about and getting on the wrong side of the president because you just have no idea where he's going to be. This was an enormous problem. The people throughout the government were much more afraid of getting on the wrong side of him than they were eager to advance his priorities.

That is an enormous problem for effective presidential leadership. And I think that as a practical matter, it made both Trump and Biden very weak presidents, probably the weakest presidents in the modern era, both of them, because it was very hard for them to exert authority in a concerted, focused way that was durable.

That is an enormous problem for effective presidential leadership. And I think that as a practical matter, it made both Trump and Biden very weak presidents, probably the weakest presidents in the modern era, both of them, because it was very hard for them to exert authority in a concerted, focused way that was durable.