The covid-19 crisis exposes the limits of a reality-TV presidency

We are used to thinking about the U.S. presidency as a position of moral leadership — a “bully pulpit,” in Theodore Roosevelt’s words. And many occupants of the White House have used that vital function well. But the modern American president also has a core managerial aspect as the CEO of the federal government, and this dimension of power is crucial in a national crisis. President Trump has never understood or mastered that role, which is the central reason America’s covid-19 outbreak has turned into a catastrophe.

The presidency has become the symbol of American superpower status, with pictures of the White House recognizable around the globe. But the Constitution actually makes the office weak by design, giving it among the most limited set of powers of any head of government in the world. Preeminent scholar Richard Neustadt noted that to get anything done, the president “has to use whatever influence he does possess on Congress, agencies, the media, state governments, private interests, foreign allies, and public opinion abroad as well as at home. . . . Compared to all the oppositions, even a ‘strong’ president is weak.”

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