Courage

When I was a young manager in a large corporation, an executive several levels above me decided to take a risk and promote me into the executive ranks with significantly increased responsibilities. A man of few words, he had only two for me as he informed me of his decision: “No excuses.”

Leaders take responsibility for their actions and their results.

Leadership takes courage.

The true measure of a leader is revealed by their actions under very difficult circumstances. The actions of Donald J. Trump when faced with the first and only significant challenge of his presidency are crystal clear in what they reveal: cowardice.

When Trump was briefed by our intelligence services before the virus gained a foothold in the United States, the courageous act of a leader would be to go before the American people, share the tough news and implement a command and control structure to deal with the threat, like the leaders of most other developed countries did. A pandemic requires alterations of normal public interactions which are difficult and affect economic activity in the short term. Donald feared for his re-election prospects more than the impact on American lives. He chose the coward’s path: do nothing, make light of the threat, lie about the facts.

When the emerging pandemic became too obvious to ignore, Trump chose to create the appearance of a federal task force, but not to actually lead the country’s response to this global crisis from the White House. He feared that he and the B team surrounding him were not going to fare well given the difficulties this crisis presented. So he chose the coward’s path again: let each state fend for itself in a disjointed, state-by-state “strategy” to a global crisis. Blame the governors when inevitable losses occur.

The clearest proof of Trump’s cowardice is his failure to meet the directive I was given as a young man: “No excuses.” In front of America, Trump continues to deflect: “It’s not my fault! The Chinese did this!”

Donald, it doesn’t matter where or why the problem started. Leaders always face unexpected problems. Presidents face the largest problems, which for you was the global pandemic. The clock on your pandemic leadership started, when the virus moved from China to the world. All leaders of all countries were then responsible for a response to the threat to their citizens.

The United States, the richest country in the world, has experienced the worst outcomes in the world.

On your watch.

When journalists criticize your efforts and results, you routinely claim “false news!” rather than having the courage to face criticism. So here is an assessment of your pandemic response from an unimpeachable source, one of the most respected medical journals on earth, The New England Journal of Medicine.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2029812

As a flamboyantly inflated reality TV host famously used to say…

Donald, you are fired!