A Presidential Report Card

Rather than rely on what others think, the Greenstein method is to judge a president by his performance in office—that is, his effectiveness. Put another way, does the president offer strong and persuasive leadership? Polls and ratings don’t always capture this.

Greenstein originally assessed presidents from FDR to Clinton on the basis of six qualities related to job performance in his 1996 book The Presidential Difference. The six are public communication, organizational ability, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence.

I’m going to judge President Trump on these qualities after only 10 months in the White House. That makes my judgments tentative at best and wildly premature at worst. I suspect Greenstein would frown on this. He waited until presidents had completed their terms before reaching conclusions. And his book is a classic.

Because Trump is so different from other modern chief executives, he deserves a little slack. And since it’s so early in his term, I’ll grade him simply by pass or fail. This may be a dubious endeavor since my only qualification is that I’ve covered presidents since Gerald Ford (whom I liked, by the way).

• Public communicator. Trump is no FDR or Reagan, but he’s a pretty good communicator. His practice is to inform the world of whatever crosses his mind. When he tweeted in the campaign, it worked well. As president, not so much. As often as not, he comes off as egotistical, mean-spirited, petty, or poorly informed. At least everyone knows his thoughts and obsessions.

But there’s a problem. Harvard professor Richard Neustadt, in his famous book Presidential Power, offered a clear definition of presidential power. It’s the power to persuade—Congress, the public, foreign leaders. Trump may communicate, but he doesn’t try to persuade. As a rule, he doesn’t make a case or deliver an argument for what he wants.

There’s an exception: national security and foreign policy addresses. Two examples are his speeches in Poland and at the United Nations. Why were they so good? My guess is they were drafted not by the regular speechwriters but at the National Security Council by the one top-notch writer at the White House, Michael Anton.

Grade: Pass, barely.

• Organizational capacity. Trump has the organizational ability of a 6-year-old. And no president can thrive in a helter-skelter environment. Can wise decision-making occur when the Oval Office is a madhouse? No.

As chief of staff since July, John Kelly has produced a reasonably disciplined White House. There are fewer leaks, and the worst rivalry on the staff ended when Steve Bannon was kicked out. But Kelly regards tweets as a presidential prerogative. So they continue to cause confusion, hurting Trump, Republicans, and the country.

Grade: Fail.

• Political skill. Trump has plenty, but he uses it incautiously. He’s the only Republican who could have beaten Hillary Clinton. But the presidency is a different game with different rules. And he’s not particularly good at it. If he were, he wouldn’t attack allies such as Mitch McConnell as if they were enemies.

Trump needs an enemy to nickname and demonize. The one success of the “Resistance” is that no one Democrat stands out as the Resister-in-Chief, the opponent for Trump to take apart. In 2020, he’ll have one to go after in his reelection campaign.

His growing success in filling the federal courts with talented conservatives represents an important political triumph. Trump’s promise to pick a nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy after Antonin Scalia’s death from a list of conservatives was inspired. He intends to choose future Supreme Court nominees from a refreshed list of conservatives.

Grade: Pass.

• Vision. Trump doesn’t have one. His views on policy tend to come and go. He said the Republican health care bill was “mean” and suggested the Senate version of tax reform was better than the House model. Is he serious when he threatens to cut off his ties to Republicans and take up with Democrats? I think he is. The ideological gap between the parties doesn’t bother him.

Grade: Fail.

• Cognitive Style. Greenstein described this as the style “with which the president processes the Niagara of advice and information that comes his way.” Trump often appears to adopt the advice of the last person he’s talked to. Other times, he’s adamant about sticking to a policy he’s been advised to abandon. His sympathy for Vladimir Putin and his insistence on pulling out of the Paris Agreement on climate change come to mind in this regard.

Trump’s substitute for books is TV news. It’s a source of advice and leads to job offers. Trump has no wise man to rely on. Nixon had Kissinger. Reagan had Jim Baker and Ed Meese. Bush the Younger had Cheney.

Grade: Fail.

• Emotional Intelligence. This consists of keeping one’s emotions under control and using them for what Greenstein calls “constructive purposes.” That doesn’t sound like one of Trump’s strengths, does it? His emotions are frequently not under control and lead to wrongheaded pursuits. He picks on little people who criticize him—not a good tactic.

Grade: Fail.

Presidents have a history of changing in office. The question about Trump is whether he ever will. Republicans desperately want him to follow the model for nominating judges on other issues. That would have him select a policy, then shut up. My advice to Republicans is don’t get your hopes up.

Fred Barnes is an executive editor at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.