One of the characteristics attributed to our president is an uncanny ability to navigate his way through tough negotiations to strike that…
One of the characteristics attributed to our president is an uncanny ability to navigate his way through tough negotiations to strike that brilliant deal that would have eluded anyone else.
This is the aspect of his leadership that led Donald Trump to proclaim during his presidential campaign that “I alone” can fix the mess in Washington. And this is the aspect of his leadership style that the president hopes people take away from The Art of the Deal, his best-selling memoir and novel approach to business. He may upend everything, but, we are to believe, he will emerge in the end with a better deal in hand than anyone thought possible.
This implicit promise — that he knows what he is doing, even if amid all the chaos outsiders struggle to discern how he will actually improve whatever he is torching — is one reason why Trump’s core supporters tenaciously stick with him. But there is an aspect of this approach that is both fundamental and flawed in a democratic system.
What may be successful in a business environment where the aim is personal enrichment fails as a strategy to govern. In a system of government that relies on buy-in from the electorate in order to enact and ingrain change that can improve lives in the long term, what is needed is a leader who is skilled at the art of persuasion.
We don’t pretend to believe that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are persuadable on most issues. Their aim is to return their party to control of the White House and both houses of Congress and therefore the national agenda in two years.
