John Kelly Takes Over the White House

In reading the New York Times report on new chief of staff John Kelly’s efforts to impose order and discipline on the Trump White House you get the sense that the Times reporters, led by Glenn Thrush, would like to see him succeed.

The Times reports on the Kelly management style. For those who care to learn how to manage, the information might (or might not) be useful:

In his six months as Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly often described the White House as one of the most dysfunctional organizations he had ever seen, complained to colleagues and allies about its meddling, incompetence and recklessness, and was once so angry he briefly considered quitting.

Now as President Trump’s chief of staff, he is doing something about it — with a suddenness and force that have upended the West Wing.

Mr. Kelly cuts off rambling advisers midsentence. He listens in on conversations between cabinet secretaries and the president. He has booted lingering staff members out of high-level meetings, and ordered the doors of the Oval Office closed to discourage strays. He fired Anthony Scaramucci, the bombastic New Yorker who was briefly the communications director, and has demanded that even Mr. Trump’s family, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, check with him if they want face time with the president.

Since Kelly has only been on the job for a week, it is obviously too early to know whether he will succeed. As for his task, reports have it that he will manage the staff, not the president himself. One will be interested to see whether a well-managed, disciplined staff will produce a similar effect on a president whose administration is flailing:

Mr. Kelly, 67, has told his new employees that he was hired to manage the staff, not the president. He will not try to change Mr. Trump’s Twitter or TV-watching habits. But he has also said he wants to closely monitor the information the president consumes, quickly counter dubious news stories with verified facts, and limit the posse of people urging Mr. Trump to tweet something they feel passionately about.

And then there is the man himself, especially his demeanor and comportment. As you know, such qualities are especially valued in the military. It is better to show proper decorum and encourage others to emulate it than to try to force it on your team when you cannot manifest it yourself. One remarks, purely in passing, that we should compare Kelly’s bearing to that of the women (discussed in yesterday's post) who tried and often failed to assume leadership roles… in law firms and in financial service firms.

The Times describes Kelly’s commanding presence:

The Trump White House is a judge-a-book-by-its-cover workplace, and staff members have been struck by Mr. Kelly’s bearing: tall, stern and commanding a respect Mr. Priebus never did. People close to Mr. Kelly said they expected him to methodically assess his new staff before making more drastic changes — and he has told people that he wants to improve morale before attacking the organizational chart.

Of course, Kelly’s greatest challenge will be: managing up. That is, managing his boss. Will Kelly’s example cause Trump to try to be a more commanding presence himself? Will it make him more judicious and more decorous? How many of his administration’s problems would be solved by Trump being more like John Kelly? 

Even in the matter of policy the administration has been anything but coherent. CIA Director Pompeo says that administration policy in North Korea is regime change. The Secretary of State Tillerson says that the policy is not regime change but negotiation. Vice president Pence then says that the policy is not negotiation. Your head is spinning. Without proper direction from the top, too many senior administration officials have been freelancing.

At the least, we know that Hillary Clinton never had a commanding presence. Come to think of it, how many recent presidents really had that quality.