Morning Jolt: What Does the Post-Pandemic Presidency Look Like?

On the menu today: a long look at the myriad challenges facing the person to take the oath of office to be president on January 20, 2021.

Being President Is Going to Stink for Years to Come

Imagine that through some entirely unforeseeable sequence of events, the person who takes the oath of office to serve as President of the United States on January 20, 2021, is not Donald Trump or Joe Biden but . . . you.

How would you feel? Some of you might feel excited, but I suspect quite a few people would feel trepidation and pressure and think, "Ugh, what did I ever do to deserve this?"

Being president is going to stink for at least the next two years, and probably more — even by the historical standards of a job that appears to be powerful and glamorous but that tends to age its occupants about a decade for each term. The task of overcoming this virus and recovering from its enormous cost in human lives, human health, and economic ruin will rank among the greatest challenges in American history, and for a long while, the job of the president is going to be an endless series of hard choices, picking from menus with only bad ...

WITH JIM GERAGHTY May 14 2020 WITH JIM GERAGHTY May 14 2020 What Does the Post-Pandemic Presidency Look Like? On the menu today: a long look at the myriad challenges facing the person to take the oath of office to be president on January 20, 2021. Being President Is Going to Stink for Years to Come Imagine that through some entirely unforeseeable sequence of events, the person who takes the oath of office to serve as President of the United States on January 20, 2021, is not Donald Trump or Joe Biden but . . . you. How would you feel? Some of you might feel excited, but I suspect quite a few people would feel trepidation and pressure and think, "Ugh, what did I ever do to deserve this?" Being president is going to stink for at least the next two years, and probably more — even by the historical standards of a job that appears to be powerful and glamorous but that tends to age its occupants about a decade for each term. The task of overcoming this virus and recovering from its enormous cost in human lives, human health, and economic ruin will rank among the greatest challenges in American history, and for a long while, the job of the president is going to be an endless series of hard choices, picking from menus with only bad ...   READ MORE

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