12 III. Administration Report Card for The First 70 Days O n June 2, 2016, the Financial Times published a luncheon interview with former White House Chief of Staff, Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Treasury, James Baker. Baker provided some sage insight to inform the first 70 days of a new administration: “I won’t get my panties in a wedge because of what I am hearing from the political candidates. What they say in the campaign and what they do once they are in the White House is not the same thing. I don’t care who wins, whoever gets to the White House. Presidents can do a lot, but they can only do so much through the system of checks and balances. We are a country of laws, limited by bureaucracy and the power structure in Washington. Presidents are not unilateral rulers. If they did not know that, they will find out soon enough.” Consider the following: • The President of the United States manages a system replete with checks and balances and leads an executive bureaucracy managed on a matrix organizational structure defined by conflicting incentives and factionalism. • An incoming President arrives in the oval office with a list of campaign promises. He or she is confronted with a significant flow of existing governance responsibilities that essentially command all of their time and capacity. Consequently, new initiatives must be incorporated within the flow of existing responsibilities as defined by law, circum- stances, and the federal credit and budget. • A President’s capacity to lead is determined by the capacity that they build – with their Cabinet and sub-Cabinet appointees, their ability to align with the bureaucracy, the Congress, the contractors, and with the wider constituencies throughout the coun- try. With an 80-percent consensus behind them on individual issues inside and outside the Beltway, a President can do remarkable things. Without such support, the Presi- dent’s hands are tied on many issues. Policies and budgets are much easier to describe during a campaign. You paint a picture of what is possible and what you want to do. Howev- er, when you implement policies and budgets you must do more than paint a picture. They require detailed architectural specifications that must be worked through a complex thicket of laws and regulations and ultimately win the approval of a diverse group of people, orga- nizations, and constituencies. This takes time and negotiation. It is the sausage factory of the democratic legislative, regulatory, and budgetary process. In assessing the first 70 days of the Trump administration, one must have a concept of a President’s actual powers, authorities, and capacities. These powers underscore the im- portance of recruiting an excellent Cabinet and working with it to become an effective team. Overall Grade: B- Vision: A Make America Great Again (MAGA) is a bril- liant strategy. Now, let’s expand it to incorpo- rate America’s role in a thriving global civiliza- tion and economy. Recruiting a Team: A- Trump has done a good job of recruiting an A-team at the Cabinet and sub-Cabinet-level from the Republican rolodex. These people are doers with significant business and military experience, rather than process people trained as lawyers. Many of the business people un- derstand the benefits that will accrue to the business world if a successful middle class is preserved. Let’s hope his new team can help the President build out the sub-Cabinet positions effectively. Given their establishment credentials and wealth, the question is whether or not they will serve the best long-term interests of the American people or continue the uneconomic centralization of power and wealth.