Presidents...must carefully nurture & guard their public image of wisdom, probity, patience, smarts
Clinton and Bush, both former governors, and Obama, essentially a novice in 2009, all learned the hard way that the presidency is indeed a powerful job, but that in oddly paradoxical ways, the occupant of the Oval Office has less power than everyone else in Washington when it comes to actually enacting legislation.
Presidential power is the power to persuade, the late Harvard professor Richard Neustadt wrote in what is still considered the classic study. To do so, Neustadt wrote, presidents must be careful and anticipatory, listening and adapting while appearing collegial, not dictatorial. And they must carefully nurture and guard their public image of wisdom, probity, patience and smarts.
Whether he wants to or not, Trump must learn how acquire those qualities if he is to succeed. He got his first on-the-job lesson this week, as he tried to herd Republican cats.
In his first effort, he made numerous mistakes.
Like the Clintons, Trump (or rather Speaker Ryan) sprang the Obamcare reform and replace bill on Congress and his own party without notice and with little input. A law is not like a construction blueprint. The builders dont work for you.
Donnie Dumptruck got some learnin' to do .....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-manhattan-washington_us_58d43610e4b03692bea3e4ea?ruo52wpqc821n61or&