Table Of Content

JANUARY 30, 2017 $5.99 THE TRUMP ERA WEEKLYSTANDARD.COM Contents January 30, 2017 • Volume 22, Number 20 2 The Scrapbook The long goodbye, this week in Trumpoplexy, & more 5 Casual Jay Cost’s long education 6 Editorials The Leak War by mark hemingway After Obama by william kristol Articles 9 The Trump Era Begins by Fred barnes What we’ve seen is what we’ll get 10 In Some Ways, He’s a Bit Like Ike by bret baier Our first nonpolitician president since Eisenhower 12 Affairs of State by JeFF bergner Not all Rex Tillerson’s challenges will come from abroad 14 The Prime Minister Goes All In by dominic green 12 Britain’s exit from the EU will be wholehearted 17 Ridicule Didn’t Work by James Piereson & naomi schaeFer riley The Sokal hoax and its lessons 18 See No Evil by Paulina neuding A tale of two New Year’s Eves 20 Wandering in the Wilderness by geoFFrey norman What will Bill Clinton do now? 21 Critics with Bombs by JosePh bottum A German court rationalizes an attack on a synagogue Features 23 The Soap Opera Comes to an End by noemie emery Farewell to ‘The Clintons’ 20 26 Regulatory Reform by christoPher demuth sr. A new approach for the Trump era Books & Arts 30 The Divine Mr. D by James matthew wilson The epic journeys of Dante Alighieri 33 Up from Macaroni by Pia catton What’s pasta is prologue 34 Humanitarian Relief by george h. nash A new look at the life and works of Herbert Hoover 37 Things of Nature by Paul di FiliPPo Of trees and butterflies, and the appreciation thereof 39 Shallow Fences by John Podhoretz Something gets lost in the translation from stage to screen 33 40 Parody Obama self-reflects COVER BY GARY LOCKE THE SCRAPBOOK The Fine Art of Changing the Subject If you hadn’t noticed, the election The Scrapbook can just picture the in 2017.” Nobody will guess where of Donald Trump has led to some, awkward modern moment: What do you stand! well, tension in social settings. Weeks you do when the seething Hil lary Here are a few more Schweitzer- after the vote, families gathered for supporter who just happens to be suggested “Phrases to end a post- Thanksgiving and the college kids your company’s CEO goes on an anti- inauguration political conversation were just too, too appalled by their Trump tirade and invites you to join before it gets heated.” They range parents’ deplorable Trumpism to from the abrupt (“It’s nice to even talk about it. Come Christ- meet you, enjoy the rest of mas the snowflakes were down- [event]. Excuse me.”) to the stilt- right bitter. ed (“Mike, thanks for that post- Family get-togethers may be inauguration update. Sally, as one of the rare social settings our host you mentioned a best- where people who don’t necessar- selling book you were reading. ily share political views nonethe- Will you share more please?”) to less mix. The office is another, the non sequitur (“Post-inaugu- one where political talk might ration 2017 will be interesting. normally be politely tucked away Who has spring break plans?”). but, following the rise of Donald Okay—Judith Martin she Trump, has become fraught and ain’t. But credit Schweitzer seemingly inescapable. (though she might not describe More’s the pity, says “etiquette her efforts this way) with trying expert” Sharon Schweitzer. The to equip Trump supporters with founder of a consultancy called some basic strategies for escap- Protocol & Etiquette World- ing business affairs where they’re wide, Schweitzer has advice for how in the sport? That’s when you could being bullied. You don’t have to take “to navigate those post-inauguration use some “authentic statements in it. Nor do you have to ruin your career thorny political discussions.” The your arsenal,” Schweitzer says. Such prospects. Instead, you can always just advice seemed tailored to the Trump as: “After such a contentious election look into the middle distance and say supporters trying not to be outed at and the inauguration, I’m keeping to no one in particular, “Who else has cocktail parties. Thus, she suggests my opinion to myself. I appreciate seen the new exhibit at the Metropoli- you “exercise your right to privacy.” your interest and wish you the best tan Museum?” Works every time. ♦ The Long Goodbye judgment we’ve come to expect of the Times where Mr. Obama is concerned: Even with a packed schedule “Not since Lincoln has there been a of farewell speeches and his president as fundamentally shaped— final presidential press conference, in his life, convictions and outlook on Barack Obama managed to find time the world—by reading and writing as for exit interviews in his last few Barack Obama.” White House weeks: There was the What is it about Obama that in- 60 Minutes sit-down, the Lester Holt spires public intellectuals to such M O love-fest, an NPR snoozer, David piffle? Isn’t it enough for Obama’s C S W Axelrod’s “Axe Files” podcast, and, admirers to admire the man without E N who knows, maybe even a Q & A the puffery? And it’s not only puffery W, O with the Petaluma Argus-Courier. that comes next, but puffery on stilts. BEL But of all these elegiac essays, none “Like Lincoln,” Kakutani says, “Mr. RK; A compares with the profile in the New Obama taught himself how to write.” CL D York Times limned by the paper’s Obama taught himself to write? AVI D chief literary critic, Michiko Kakuta- Barack Obama, center, as a sixth-grader at Lincoln had legendarily little in E, V ni. It begins with the sort of measured Honolulu’s elite Punahou School in 1972 the way of formal schooling (he would BO A 2 / The Weekly STandard January 30, 2017 describe his education as “defective”). Obama, by contrast, went to the most exclusive private school in Hawaii, followed by stints at Occidental Col- lege, Columbia University, and Har- vard Law School. If Obama had to teach himself to write, the Punahou School has some explaining to do. But Kakutani doesn’t mean that Obama had to teach himself spelling and syntax and grammar. No, what she seems to mean is that no one had to give the future president pointers in writing moving prose. He discovered and developed that talent all on his lonesome. But when and how did Obama find what Kakutani calls his “elastic voice capable of moving easily between the lyrical and the vernacu- lar and the profound”? It was in those protean days of community organizing in Chicago, when he wrote short stories about the people he met, “working on them after he came home from work,” Kakutani writes. In describing the flavor of these stories, Obama is quick to stress his own maturity and eloquence. “There is not a lot of Jack Kerouac open-road, young kid on the make discovering stuff,” he tells the Times. “It’s more melancholy and reflective.” Kakutani likened his work to that of a young Dostoyevsky (actually, she didn’t— but The Scrapbook suspects that was simply an oversight). Now that these short stories are known to exist, only one question remains: Which will come first, their “Would they, the Maryland kids school, and her parents are reluctant collection and publication in a slen- wondered, attend Donald Trump Ele- to yank her away from friends and der, achingly handsome volume or the mentary School?” (Washington Post, classmates. This reason may even be Nobel Prize for Literature? ♦ January 18, 2017). ♦ genuine. But cynics tend to think, and Obama’s admirers hope, that the Whose Neighborhood ex-president wants to maintain a par- This Week in tisan presence, in what is now Donald Is It Anyway? Trump’s Washington. Trumpoplexy W hether Barack Obama returns Whatever the reason, count The ‘K ids at Barack Obama Elemen- to the craft of short stories or Scrapbook among the minority of tary have known only one makes with the memoirs, chances are local residents who are not so pleased president. Many fear the next. he will be doing much of his writing with the former president’s choice. As “Overnight their world had shift- not in Chicago, but in Washington, things stand, the purview of the Se- ed, and now the students at Barack where he and his family have chosen cret Service in the life of the nation’s Obama Elementary had a pressing to reside. capital continues to grow: Security is question for principal Megan Ash- The ostensible reason for the tighter than ever; more avenues and worth: Would the name of their Obamas’ decision is that their young- exits and entrances are permanent- school change? er daughter is halfway through high ly blocked; and several times daily, January 30, 2017 The Weekly STandard / 3 Must Listening D on’t miss the new episode of “Conversations with Bill Kristol,” the video series in www.weeklystandard.com which The Weekly STandard’s editor at large talks philosophy, Stephen F. Hayes, Editor in Chief politics, and culture with big Richard Starr, Editor Fred Barnes, Executive Editor thinkers. A case in point is the Eric Felten, Managing Editor most recent program, which Christopher Caldwell, Andrew Ferguson, Victorino Matus, Lee Smith, Senior Editors features that most worthy of Philip Terzian, Literary Editor worthies, Scrapbook colleague Kelly Jane Torrance, Deputy Managing Editor Jay Cost, Mark Hemingway, (and Weekly STandard senior Matt Labash, Jonathan V. Last, editor) Andrew Ferguson. John McCormack, Michael Warren, Senior Writers Larry O’Connor, Online Editor In a far-ranging discussion Ethan Epstein, Associate Editor Ferguson offers his thoughts on Chris Deaton, Jim Swift, Deputy Online Editors Hannah Yoest, Assistant Literary Editor television: E. B. White thought Priscilla M. Jensen, Assistant Editor that the creation of PBS “was the Tatiana Lozano, Editorial Assistant promise of television being ful- Jenna Lifhits, Alice B. Lloyd, Web Producers Philip Chalk, Design Director The Obamas’ new Kalorama digs filled because it was going to be Barbara Kyttle, Design Assistant public,” when in practice, now Teri Perry, Executive Assistant Contributing Editors downtown traffic comes to a high-alert “you turn on a PBS station and you’re Claudia Anderson, Max Boot, Joseph Bottum, Tucker Carlson, Matthew Continetti, Terry Eastland, standstill when, say, Joe Biden grabs likely to see doo-wop groups.” Noemie Emery, Joseph Epstein, David Frum, lunch. (Please, Mike Pence, just order a And on politics: In the contest be- David Gelernter, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Michael Goldfarb, Mary Katharine Ham, Brit Hume, pizza.) To extend this supreme annoy- tween George H. W. Bush and Bill Frederick W. Kagan, Charles Krauthammer, ance to a residential neighborhood— Clinton in 1992, Ferguson says he was Yuval Levin, Tod Lindberg, Micah Mattix, Robert Messenger, P. J. O’Rourke, even a ritzy one like Kalorama—will confident whom the voters—picking John Podhoretz, Irwin M. Stelzer make daily life in Washington, D.C., a between a “World War II hero” and William Kristol, Editor at Large little less convenient. a “guy who talks about his under- MediaDC Obama’s decision is unusual, too. wear”—would choose. “Of course,” Ryan McKibben, Chairman Stephen R. Sparks, President & Chief Operating Officer Former presidents are a little like Ferguson notes, “I was totally wrong.” Jennifer Yingling, Audience Development Officer retired ministers or ex-college presi- Ferguson could not be further from Kathy Schaffhauser, Chief Financial Officer David Lindsey, Chief Digital Officer dents: As a courtesy to their succes- wrong, though, in his assessment Catherine Lowe, Integrated Marketing Director sors, they tend to clear out of town of higher education. The author of Alex Rosenwald, Director, Public Relations & Branding Mark Walters, Chief Revenue Officer when they lay down their burdens. the trenchant and amusing Crazy U, Nicholas H. B. Swezey, Vice President, Advertising Thomas Jefferson went back home Ferguson remains one of the most T. Barry Davis, Senior Director, Advertising Jason Roberts, Digital Director, Advertising to Monticello; Harry Truman moved compelling critics of the modern uni- Waldo Tibbetts, National Account Director into his late mother-in-law’s house versity. Not even counting the collapse Andrew Kaumeier, Advertising Operations Manager Brooke McIngvale, Manager, Marketing Services near Kansas City; Jimmy Carter re- of intellectual standards, Ferguson Advertising inquiries: 202-293-4900 turned to Plains, while Gerald Ford says, colleges have made themselves Subscriptions: 1-800-274-7293 relocated to Palm Springs. Only absurd. Such as: Woodrow Wilson—who had been The Weekly Standard (ISSN 1083-3013), a division of Clarity Media Group, is published weekly (except the first week in January, third week in April, felled by a stroke and owned no per- The way they’ve given themselves first week in July, and third week in August) at 1152 15th St., NW, Suite over to marketers. The whole huge 200, Washington, DC 20005. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, manent residence—hung around in DC, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes edifice that is designed to do noth- the capital. Yes, the Clintons did take to The Weekly Standard, P.O. Box 421203, Palm Coast, FL 32142-1203. ing but get [students] to borrow For subscription customer service in the United States, call 1-800- a place in D.C., but that was in addi- money so that they can buy a prod- 274-7293. For new subscription orders, please call 1-800-274-7293. 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GETTY Of course, Barack Obama is wel- hita sc ocsletsa rltyo ob emenu cdhe.m . o. n. sYtroaut edh.a vAen da sahuacbcnesdcplirtniepgdt)i..o SCneo nvinedqr lupeirtriticeeerss,. $tAo5m .t9he9er.i ceBadanict okEr ixstposr ueTeshsse,, $WV5eis.e9ak9/l yM( iSnatcsatluneddrCeaasrd rpd, o 1sp1ta5ayg2me 1 ea5nnttdhs S / AFP / cWoamshe itnog ltiovne, wash tehreeyv esra yh, ei sw naontt as. vBeruyt fpariilceed, p[yreotd] uecvte trhyabto sdeyll iss a ut nande irn sfloactieadl SWCuterseetekotlmy, NSertW aSn, edSravuiricdtee P , 2rTi0vha0ec, WyW Peaoeslkihcliyyn ,Sg vttioasnnit,d waDwrCdw ,2 .w101e05e0k25l y-1s45t6ath1n 7dS.a tFr.d,o .Nrc oWa m,c Soopur iytw eor if2t eT0 ht0oe, RDbig town, and Obama’s choice to pressure to gain access to it. Washington, DC 20005. Copyright 2017, Clarity Media Group. All rights A reserved. No material in The Weekly CHstick around and play the local hero Standard may be reprinted without PAUL J. RIsictrailklye su Tnghrea Scicoruasp.b ook as all-too-typ♦- satWionatscWh itthheB iwllhKorleis ttholi.nogr ga.t Conve♦r- pTtrheaerdm eWimsesaeirokknl y ooSff t aCtnhldaear irtdcy oipMsy eraidg irhaet g iGostwreonrueepdr.. 4 / The Weekly STandard January 30, 2017 CASUAL The Doctor Is In of one all through my mid-20s, but I could never come up with one that fit the bill. So I pretty much gave up, though I remained enrolled in my program. Over the last 10 years, I’ve writ- L ast week, I finally defended I always found it very enjoyable ten plenty of articles, as well as two my dissertation at the Univer- being a student. The good professors books. I believe I’ve grown as a writer, sity of Chicago. would assign books that I hadn’t read so it always bugged me that I never This was a long time coming. A before, structure the subject matter came up with an idea that would work really long time. When I first enrolled in a way that made me reexamine my for a dissertation. Then I hit upon one, at the U of C back in 2002, Barack prior beliefs, and facilitate meaning- about two years ago. Obama was my state senator. In the ful classroom discussions. And what When I was working on my last time it took me to earn my Ph.D., he did I have to do in return? Usually book, I was really bothered by how went from the Illinois legislature, to write a couple papers and take a test badly James Madison is treated these the United States Senate, and finally or two—all of which demonstrated days. We’re in the midst of an Alex- to the White House. So sen- ander Hamilton boomlet— sitive was I to this unfor- which is fine by me—but tunate juxtaposition that pro-Hamilton writers still I made sure my disserta- do not understand what tion defense was scheduled Madison was all about in before January 20. That way, the early days under the I could at least say I fin- Constitution. I had an idea ished my degree before he about what was motivating was my former president. Madison, and that became What took me so long to the dissertation. finish? I can’t really blame Ironically, once I came the progressivism of the up with the idea, it only academy or the drivel that took me about 16 months higher ed produces every to write the whole thing. year. For starters, the Uni- Turns out, that was the miss- versity of Chicago does not ing piece of the puzzle. One really indulge in the trivial. good idea. If anything, the school takes On the flight home from itself a little too seriously: Chicago, I was reading a While browsing through biography of the Kinks. The the university bookstore first quarter of the book is last week, I discovered a about their travails as work- shirt advertising all the ing-class kids in postwar Nobel laureates who had been stu- that I had learned what they taught London. It’s an engaging read, but dents or faculty at the university me. Rarely did I have to come up there are a million stories identical (yes, it included Obama for his Peace with my own ideas. And when I did, to that of Ray and Dave Davies. Why Prize . . . no, I didn’t buy it). The it’d probably be for the very end of a was I reading about them? It’s because political science department in par- 25-page paper. No big deal. Ray had an idea for the five-chord riff ticular is a place where people study But a dissertation is a different ani- that leads off “You Really Got Me,” serious subjects like Aristotle, Con- mal altogether. I had to come up with and Dave had an idea to play it loud. gress, or NATO. And while it is lib- an original argument, rooted in the “Huh. I guess I’m just like Ray eral, that is actually not a bad thing existing scholarly research but chal- Davies,” I thought to myself as the for a conservative. There is nothing lenging it in some meaningful way, plane reached its cruising altitude. better than a civil disagreement with elaborate it over the course of about But I quickly shrugged off that gran- a serious person. 250 pages, then defend it to three spe- diose thought with a quiet chuckle: No, the peculiarities of the mod- cialists in the field. “I’m comparing myself to the Kinks? R ern academy cannot explain away In fact, it didn’t matter how good Ugh. I’m already letting this degree E NC the delay. The truth is that it was I was in learning other people’s ideas. get to my head!” E P BRITT Sdneogbroede yto’so kf amulet sob ulotn gm tion fie ntihsha.t the Tano widreitae oaf dmisys eortwatni.o nI , tIr ihedad t oto thhainvke Jay Cost January 30, 2017 The Weekly STandard / 5 EDITORIALS The Leak War A s journalistic bombshells go, CNN’s January 10 would be one of the top intelligence officials, whose impri- report on President Trump was explosive: “Clas- matur would have given CNN the confidence to run with sified documents presented last week to President the story. The scenario is all too plausible. It wasn’t that long Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that ago that Democrats—who today are outraged to hear even Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and a discouraging word uttered about the probity of the intel- financial information about Mr. Trump, multiple U.S. offi- ligence community—were themselves outraged at Clapper cials with direct knowledge of the briefings tell CNN.” for misleading Congress about NSA surveillance programs. CNN noted a number of the documents were compiled by Brennan, for his part, has been publicly criticizing Trump a former British intelligence agent and reportedly presented in harsh terms. And Democrats have their own well-known to Obama and Trump by four of America’s most senior intel- axe to grind with Comey. ligence officials—Director of National Intelligence James Make no mistake, there is a leak war against Trump going Clapper, FBI director James Comey, CIA director John Bren- on. The breathless revelations in the press that Trump’s nan, and NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers. The report incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has been was noticeably bereft of specific details about the repeatedly calling the Russians—something information in the documents. only intelligence officials are likely to know Enter BuzzFeed, which followed up by actu- about—is proof enough of that. There are of ally publishing the 35-page dossier at the heart course many reasons why an incoming national of CNN’s report. It was an opposition research security adviser might be speaking to foreign report that had been circulating in D.C. for interlocutors, and there has been no presidential months. No one had reported on its existence— transition in modern times without the incom- save Mother Jones’s David Corn—because the ing team of officials having such contacts with allegations were outrageous and unverifiable. their foreign counterparts. Trump officials later Clapper and Brennan Some of the claims were demonstrably false, as said Flynn called to offer condolences on Rus- BuzzFeed itself admitted (“the report contains errors”). The sia’s assassinated Turkish ambassador and, again, to offer report, it turned out, had been commissioned and compiled condolences about a plane carrying a Russian choir shot by Fusion GPS, a shadowy opposition-research firm with a down over Syria. This seems plausible, though no one not on reputation for doing black-bag work, primarily at the behest the calls can know for sure. But the ominous spin the press of Democrats, though the original paymasters for the Trump put on Flynn’s phone calls is alarmism for alarmism’s sake. dossier may have been Republican. Fusion GPS last made There are substantive reasons to be concerned about the national news in 2012 for harassing Romney donors during Trump administration’s Russia policy, and there are seri- Obama’s reelection campaign. ous and unanswered questions about the potential entangle- BuzzFeed’s publication of raw, unverified accusations ment of Trump’s finances and Russian interests. A sober and that Trump had, among other things, hired Russian prosti- responsible press corps would focus on such things. And tutes was a shocking departure from American journalistic intelligence professionals, for their part, can share their fears standards. But in hot pursuit of clicks, BuzzFeed may have with oversight committees on Capitol Hill; they best serve served one useful end: They exposed the rotten foundation their country by leaving politics to the politicians. underlying CNN’s ominous-sounding news. Had they not If the intelligence community is just now sounding done so, Trump might have been inaugurated under a cloud alarms about Russia’s creeping influence, then they weren’t of baseless speculation and calls for congressional investi- doing their jobs under the last president. And if they can’t gations. The real question is why CNN’s heavyweight jour- orchestrate a media campaign less clumsy than this one nalists—one of the four bylines was none other than Carl against Trump, one wonders how skilled they really are. Bernstein—would sign off on allegations of such dubious By desperately lobbing spurious accusations, not only have provenance, when their own report admits they had “not leakers from the intelligence services created a spectacle that independently corroborated the specific allegations.” has embarrassed the country in the eyes of foreign leaders The obvious answer is the news value of the incoming more than it has embarrassed the incoming president, they M and outgoing presidents having been briefed on the exist- may have insulated President Trump from needed criticism O C ence of the dossier. But these briefings are highly classified. when he holds the reins of power. S W E So how did CNN learn what it reported? The likeliest source —Mark Hemingway N 6 / The Weekly STandard January 30, 2017 more than a trembling in the presence of illiberalism. . . . Who today is called a liberal for strength and confidence After Obama in defense of liberty?” I asked whether a revived liberalism of strength and confidence in defense of liberty was possible. “Can Obama reshape liberalism to be, as it was under F.D.R., a fighting faith, unapologetically patriotic and Eight years ago, reflecting on the inauguration of Pres- strong in the defense of liberty?” ident Barack Obama, I wrote a piece that made two Well, perhaps Obama could have revived such a liber- arguments, which may be worth briefly revisiting. alism. But he manifestly did not. He didn’t even try. Ask First, I suggested that January 20, 2009, “marked the end those yearning or fighting for liberty from Tehran to Mos- of a conservative era.” This proved to be true. Despite the cow, from Cuba to the Middle East. And so a liberalism impressive renaissance of aspects of conservatism in the Tea that once fought for liberty, which had already degenerated Party efforts of 2010 and sporadically among Republicans in into a progressivism that took liberty for granted, became Congress throughout the Obama years; and despite the fact, a progressivism that doesn’t even seem particularly con- as I argued then, that “conservatives have been right more cerned about liberty. And the nationalist populism that often than not—and more often than liberals—about most rose in reaction shows a lamentable inclination to for- of the important issues of the day,” Donald Trump’s nomina- get about liberty as well, especially if the cause of liberty tion and election did confirm the end of the Reagan era. A requires sacrifice or long-term effort. new conservatism based on old conservative—and liberal— The old conservatism has faded. The recent progres- principles is possible. Indeed, it’s necessary. But it’s not going sivism has failed. The standard of liberty trails in the dust, to be simply a continuation or even a revival of the conserva- unattended by either of the major parties, neglected by the tism of 1980 to 2008. cravenly politically correct and the aggressively politically My second suggestion—perhaps more a hope than a incorrect. But surely there are those who can see beyond suggestion—was that President Obama could herald the progressivism and look above populism. It is their task restoration of a healthier liberalism. I quoted Harvey Mans- today to raise a standard of liberty to which the wise and field from 1978: “From having been the aggressive doctrine honest can repair. of vigorous, spirited men, liberalism has become hardly —William Kristol Welcome to the Neighborhood, President Trump THOMAS J. DONOHUE his staff could look out of the White and serious approach to delivering PRESIDENT AND CEO House’s windows every day and get much-needed reforms to each federal U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE a clear reminder of what their focus government agency. The Chamber should be. looks forward to working with these The U.S. Chamber of Commerce We have been encouraged by nominees to turn back overregulation, has a new neighbor: President Donald President Trump’s strong focus on promote international trade, expand Trump. The business community growth—our overriding priority. And American energy, and so much more. looks forward to working closely we agree on many of the big ideas As we welcome our new president with the newly elected president, his the administration has committed to the neighborhood, we do so with Cabinet, and the new Congress to to pursuing, including regulatory optimism as well as a realistic outlook of advance shared priorities centered on relief and reform, a tax overhaul, the hard work that lies ahead. Our new economic growth. and modernization of America’s government brings ample opportunities Our close proximity as neighbors— infrastructure. As a businessman to pursue reforms that lead to stronger, the Chamber’s headquarters is located himself, we’re confident that he will faster economic growth. right across Lafayette Square from the operate in the best interests of free Seizing these opportunities, however, White House—has helped us forge enterprise. But when we don’t agree will be neither easy nor simple. All of productive relationships with previous with a position he takes, we won’t the topics that must be addressed—from administrations. Since our founding hesitate to say so. health care to taxes to regulations— in 1912 under President Taft, most In addition, we are optimistic about are interrelated and complicated. The presidents have either walked across the team the president has assembled. Chamber stands ready to assist our the park and visited the Chamber or His appointment of successful business new president and Congress in spoken at one of our events. leaders to key Cabinet posts further navigating these issues and pursuing We also aren’t shy about using our signals his respect for free enterprise an exciting agenda that will spark location to deliver important messages. and commitment to economic growth. dynamic, broad-based economic growth. For years we had an enormous “JOBS” The expertise each nominee has in banner emblazoned across the front of his or her respective area of focus Learn more at our building so that the president and reflects President Trump’s thoughtful uschamber.com/abovethefold. 8 / The Weekly STandard January 30, 2017 The Trump Era some of what’s to come. He boasted at a posh D.C. dinner that 147 diplomats and ambassadors were in attendance. “Never been done before,” he said. Begins When he criticized Democratic congressman John Lewis, Demo crats, politically correct Republicans, and the media were appalled. Lewis What we’ve seen is what we’ll get. was identified as a “civil rights icon.” Though he was elected to the House by Fred barnes in 1986 and has voted a straight party line ever since, his civil rights back ground has generally made him off limits to attacks. But not with Trump. When Lewis said Trump was illegitimate as presi dent, Trump unloaded on him in tweets. Lewis said he would boy cott the inauguration. He had said the same about George W. Bush after the 2000 election and skipped that inauguration too. The episodes looked similar, except I don’t recall a response by Bush to Lewis. On the matter of Trump’s business interests, he ignored the advice of two “ethics” experts—former lawyers for Presidents Bush and Obama—who insisted he must put his holdings in a blind trust or something equivalent. They might think so, but the law says otherwise, and Trump prefers to have sons Eric and Donald run the Trump Organization while he’s president. The ethics duo “have been exploiting the situation to drag out R onald Reagan loved Wash bludgeoning what he dislikes the their 15 minutes of fame unconscion ington but disliked the gov most—political correctness, the left, ably,” Holman Jenkins wrote in the ernment. George W. Bush and those who attack him. Those tar Wall Street Journal. hated Washington but liked the gov gets will get no relief. Nor will the The press anointed them arbiters of ernment. Donald Trump loathes both bureaucracy, Washington’s cast of what Trump should do, though he is Washington and the government. busybodies who once worked in gov free to do what he wants, legally speak This is why Trump won’t make ernment and never left, and the press. ing. Jenkins referred to them as aphids, many accommodations in style or atti Trump will tweet. He will boast. “sapsucking insects [and] unfortu tude as president. He dislikes Wash He will speak candidly rather than nately the aphid side of life is the side ington and nearly everything in it. His communicate Washingtonstyle Washington specializes in.” They were advisers have long since given up on through leaks, gossip, and insinu too small for Trump to acknowledge. persuading him to act “presidential.” ations. He will be paranoid, hav Polls, even bad ones, are too big Newt Gingrich says the new president ing written in Trump: The Art of the for Trump to ignore. His approval is bringing the whole Trump package Comeback that the “slightly paranoid numbers are historically low for an we saw in the primaries and general end up being the most successful.” incoming president. He has two lines election to the White House. He will disappoint Republicans who of attack. The polls are “rigged” by Gingrich actually calls it the full believe they’ve tamed him. He will the same people “who did the phony Y “Donald J. Trump.” It consists of warm up to Democrats willing to do election polls,” he tweeted three ART H U business with him, if there are any. days before his inauguration. Or FL S Fred Barnes is executive editor In the days before his inaugura Democrats were overpolled, driv A M O of The Weekly STandard. tion, he delivered a demonstration of ing down his approval rating. He’s TH January 30, 2017 The Weekly STandard / 9 closer to being right on the second. In Some Ways, Given the political division in the country and the media’s obses sion with finding fault with Trump, He’s a Bit Like Ike he’d be smart to pay little attention to polls. Gingrich has a better idea. Trump isn’t in the same situation as Reagan in 1981. He’s more like Mar garet Thatcher in her first two years Our first nonpolitician president since Eisenhower. as British prime minister. He should learn from her. by bret baier Her poll numbers were dread ful. The press was so critical of her, D uring the 1952 campaign, only to learn that the call had been she stopped reading newspapers. She Dwight Eisenhower boldly planned. Trump, it seems, is operat was called illegitimate. Her agenda— announced that if he won the ing under the same premise—if some for instance, crushing a coal min presidency, “I shall go to Korea.” He thing is not working, try a new way. ers’ strike and closing unprofitable believed he could broker peace in the The comparisons between Eisen mines—seemed unachievable. But Korean conflict, which had reached a hower and Trump are irresistible, she was tougher than her enemies and stalemate under Harry Truman. About even if the contrasts are obvious. As defeated them. two months before he took office, Ike the first nonpolitician to be elected Is Trump capable of doing what flew to Korea on a visit that would set president since Ulysses Grant, Thatcher did? I suspect he thinks the stage for the end of the Korean Eisenhower came into office deter so. He’s a believer in suppressing War six months into his presidency. mined to do things differently and thoughts of failure. As a young man, President Truman was outraged fix what wasn’t working. He had a he listened to sermons by Norman that a presidentelect would step into healthy distrust of professional poli Vincent Peale, the author of The Power foreign policy in such a direct way. It ticians and, much like Trump, wanted of Positive Thinking. He regards Peale was an audacious break with proto a cabinet of doers, not operatives. A as the greatest speaker he ever heard. col. But the public was behind Ike, journalist joked that Eisenhower’s Trump believes in himself. And and, more important, the North Kore cabinet consisted of “eight million why not? He defeated a gang of 16 for ans and their Chinese allies took him aires and a plumber.” (The plumber the GOP nomination and whipped seriously. In their eyes, he was not the was his secretary of labor, the leader Hillary Clinton, once seen as a candi inexperienced presidentelect but of a plumber’s union.) Some of Ike’s date for coronation. He did it largely the revered general who meant busi choices might have been made by without help from consultants, poll ness. He had credibility with them that Trump—such as Charlie Wilson, the sters, and strategists. Truman lacked. When I was research CEO of General Motors, as secretary of I think Trump is tougher and ing and writing my new book, Three defense, a real outlier move, comparable smarter than his adversaries. That Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower’s to Trump’s selection of Rex Tillerson, could lead as easily to blunders as to Final Mission, I was intrigued by this chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil as successes. But unlike Obama, he’s will story. I thought it demonstrated how secretary of state. ing to compromise. In that, he’s more a nonpolitician could shake things up. In Trump’s view, successful diplo like Reagan, whose legacy is perma Ike’s Korean venture immediately macy is a matter of being a tough nent. Obama’s won’t be. came to mind when Presidentelect negotiator and dealmaker, and Tiller Democrats and progressives may be Donald Trump broke decades of U.S. son has certainly been that in count too blindly antiTrump to cooperate. China policy by having a direct phone less foreign undertakings on behalf of But it’s not Trump’s policies they revile. conversation with the president of Tai his company. President Trump is bet What progressives detest about Trump wan. The Obama administration was ting he’ll bring those skills to work “has mainly to do with appearance, horrified that Trump would trample for the American people. For defense, attitude, style, and language,” Barton on such delicate soil before he’d even Trump has made another surprise Swaim wrote in the Washington Post. assumed office. Trump’s detractors choice—retired general James Mattis, If progressives were smart, they immediately howled that it was a gaffe, who, without a congressional waiver, would recognize the possibility of deal would not even have been eligible for ing more productively with Trump Bret Baier is the chief political anchor of the job. The ideal of civilian control than with a principled conservative. Fox News Channel and the anchor and of the military is so essential to Amer “But I’m not sure they’re smart,” wrote executive editor of Special Report with ican governance that military officers Swaim. I’m not either. Bret Baier. His new book, Three Days are banned from serving as secretary And that will leave Trump with the in January: Dwight Eisenhower’s of defense for seven years after retir job of draining the swamp fulltime. ♦ Final Mission, has just been released. ing. Mattis had no trouble getting his 10 / The Weekly STandard January 30, 2017