The current President has chosen to use a policy of issuing many executive orders (161) during his first few months rather than proposing legislation. He recently changed that with a proposed “Great Big Budget Bill” that passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate.

Most Presidents use Executive Orders to get quicker action than they can via legislation. The limits on that strategy are these orders can be challenged in court. Many of this President’s orders have resulted in lawsuits from a variety of sources. In some cases, the courts have intervened on their own. It remains to be seen how effective this policy may be considering that many of his major programs have been thwarted or delayed.

However his initial goals may have focused on major changes in governing, the results have been uneven. The most obvious example is the immediate imposition of high tariffs on many countries only to be quickly reduced during individual negotiations. This has resulted in a whipsaw in the economy both in terms of raising costs and inducing fear in the stock markets. Most of all, businesses want a stable economy in which they can make better decisions. Thus, he has alienated some of his major contributors.

Considering his expertise in manipulating the media, these policies have raised questions whether he has the same expertise as a politician. He was successful in getting elected to a second term. There are different strategies in governing and in running a successful political campaign.

Of course, his announced strategy is to “break things” and “fix them” later. He certainly has broken all precedents, but it is questionable how much he has been able to “fix things.” This seems to be an overly simplistic strategy that fails in the execution. This seems to be a haphazard way to get things done. He relishes in creating chaos and throwing his opponents off balance. Unfortunately, it has done the same thing for his supporters.

The Democrats have made lots of noise and staged lots of protests, but they seem unable to create a successful strategy to challenge him. They seem to be able to set off his temper, but not much else. They are concentrating on the mid-terms, but they didn’t have much luck in filling the vacancies created when some of his cabinet left their elected offices. The Democrats seem still to be looking back and placing blame for their failure in the 2024 election. It’s time to get over it.

LBJ was a master in getting major legislation passed. That probably was due to his extensive service in the Congress. He knew the people he was working with. The current President didn’t seem to care, and that showed in his first term.

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