Larry Solomon did his homework. So did Barack Obama. Donald Trump didn’t.
I have kids in elementary school, just at the age when homework begins to ramp up. They are reasonably self-motivated and diligent. They finish their work with varying degrees of relief and pride (though they often begin with annoyance).
Sometimes, when they have a hard time getting started, I will talk with them — quite openly, I think — about my own difficulties getting my work done as a kid. Homework was always hard for me then, and there were consequences for falling behind or not finishing assignments. This struggle continued throughout my academic career. I still struggle, but have learned enough about myself to put into place systems to stay (mostly) organized, and to create quiet time and space so as to get my work done, and allowing for and even appreciating those inevitable moments when my mind will drift.
When I do drift, or when I see my kids struggling to get started or to “hang in there” with more challenging (or tedious or boring) work, I am sometimes reminded of a moment from my childhood when my father, an “old-school” disciplinarian with quite a temper, grew angry with me about yet another school report citing my lack of diligence with respect to my homework. He went on about the real sacrifices our family was making to send me to a private school, and shouted about my dishonesty when I had reported that I was “all caught up.” He poured a drink and quietly, as he watched the ice swirl in his glass, said “Craig, you know the work I do, the hours I put in. When I show up, people have to trust me, and I have to know my stuff. And over the years, the people I do business with, who know me, say something about me. Do you know what it is?”
I was quiet and curious. My father never spoke about himself like this. I shook my head. He looked at my mother. She nodded, she knew. She said, “Larry Solomon does his homework.”
You might recall, as I do, that doing homework is hard. It requires, for example, sustained attention, the ability to delay gratification, and the capacity to regulate impulse. For kids, that might mean saying no to getting up and grabbing a snack, to flipping on the TV, or to simply closing the book and saying “I’m done.” It also requires, among other things, the patience and humility to work slowly and carefully, and to check over answers to problems one has just completed, and to accept that there are things one needs to learn.
Sustained attention, the ability to delay gratification, the capacity to regulate impulse, patience, and humility. These are qualities that kids in grade school continue to refine and develop. However, they are essential for a leader to have mastered in order to do the complex, detailed, nuanced work of governance in general, and of pushing through sweeping, difficult, and unpopular legislative reform in particular. The March 24th shelving of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) is yet further evidence that Donald Trump has not mastered these developmental “tasks.” It also establishes that Trump does not do his homework — even when the stakes are high politically and for the country.
Multiple reports suggest that Trump knew little of the contents of the AHCA, its policy implications (deriding details as “little shit”), the conflicts within his own party, or of the heavy lifting required of all presidents to shepherd legislation through congress — even when his party controls both houses.
“Is this really a good bill?” he asked his advisors shortly after Speaker Ryan revealed the plan. After 18 days, when it was clear House Republicans would not have the votes to pass the legislation, Trump gave up on a central promise of his campaign: to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
This is nothing new — even for a 60-some-odd day old administration. These same problems are evident in Trump’s foreign policy stumbles, his executive orders banning travel to the U.S. from certain predominantly-Muslim states, his impulsive Tweeting, etc.
This, in contrast to his predecessor, Barack Obama, who mastered the details of his signature legislation, and worked for over a year to sign the ACA into law. He did much of the heavy lifting himself. Barack Obama did his homework.
Sustained attention, the ability to delay gratification, the capacity to regulate impulse, patience, and humility. Doing homework. A reasonable argument can be made that these abilities, among others, are essential for the leader of a complex, messy democracy with numerous constituencies (both popular and political), a dynamic economy, and multiple and ever-changing challenges abroad. What happens when a person without these abilities assumes the presidency of a republic of 320 million people, of the largest economy and largest military on earth, with the fate of the planet in his hands?
We are going to find out. But it’s not looking good.
Looking to do your part? One way to get involved is to read the Indivisible Guide, which is written by former congressional staffers and is loaded with best practices for making Congress listen. Or follow this publication, connect with us on Twitter, join us on Facebook, or check out our shop on Threadless.
