The Toddler in Chief : What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency

“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. . . . And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”—An anonymous senior administrative official in an op-ed published in a New York Times op-ed, September 5, 2018 Every president faces criticism and caricature. Donald Trump, however, is unique in that he is routinely characterized in ways more suitable for a toddler. What’s more, it is not just Democrats, pundits, or protestors who compare the president to a child; Trump’s staffers, subordinates, and allies on Capitol Hill also describe Trump like a small, badly behaved preschooler. In April 2017, Daniel W. Drezner began curating every example he could find of a Trump ally describing the president like a toddler. So far, he’s collected more than one thousand tweets—a rate of more than one a day. In The Toddler-in-Chief, Drezner draws on these examples to take readers through the different dimensions of Trump’s infantile behavior, from temper tantrums to poor impulse control to the possibility that the President has had too much screen time. How much damage can really be done by a giant man-baby? Quite a lot, Drezner argues, due to the winnowing away of presidential checks and balances over the past fifty years. In these pages, Drezner follows his theme—the specific ways in which sharing some of the traits of a toddler makes a person ill-suited to the presidency—to show the lasting, deleterious impact the Trump administration will have on American foreign policy and democracy. The “adults in the room” may not be able to rein in Trump’s toddler-like behavior, but, with the 2020 election fast approaching, the American people can think about whether they want the most powerful office turned into a poorly run political day care facility. Drezner exhorts us to elect a commander-in-chief, not a toddler-in-chief. And along the way, he shows how we must rethink the terrifying powers we have given the presidency. "Every president faces criticism and caricature. Donald Trump, however, is unique in that he is routinely characterized in ways more suitable for a toddler. What's more, it is not just Democrats, pundits, or protestors who compare the president to a child; Trump's staffers, subordinates, and allies on Capitol Hill also describe Trump like a small, badly behaved preschooler. In April 2017, Daniel W. Drezner began curating every example he could find of a Trump ally describing the president like a toddler. So far, he's collected more than one thousand tweets--a rate of more than one a day. In The Toddler-in-Chief, Drezner draws on these examples to take readers through the different dimensions of Trump's infantile behavior, from temper tantrums to poor impulse control to the possibility that the President has had too much screen time. How much damage can really be done by a giant man-baby? Quite a lot, Drezner argues, due to the winnowing away of presidential checks and balances over the past fifty years. In these pages, Drezner follows his theme--the specific ways in which sharing some of the traits of a toddler makes a person ill-suited to the presidency--to show the lasting, deleterious impact the Trump administration will have on American foreign policy and democracy. The "adults in the room" may not be able to rein in Trump's toddler-like behavior, but, with the 2020 election fast approaching, the American people can think about whether they want the most powerful office turned into a poorly run political day care facility. Drezner exhorts us to elect a commander-in-chief, not a toddler-in-chief. And along the way, he shows how we must rethink the terrifying powers we have given the presidency." -- Provided by publisher "[An] avalanche of repeated presidential absurdity. The reader realizes that this pattern is not part of the Trump presidency; it is the whole thing." — Washington Post "Americans should know that there are adults in the room. . . . And we are trying to do what's right even when Donald Trump won't." —An anonymous senior administrative official in a New York Times op-ed, September 5, 2018 Every president faces criticism and caricature. Donald Trump, however, is unique in that he is routinely characterized in ways more suitable for a toddler. What's more, it is not just Democrats, pundits, or protestors who compare the president to a child; Trump's staffers, subordinates, and allies also describe Trump like a badly behaved preschooler. Daniel W. Drezner began curating every example he could find of a Trump ally describing the president like a toddler. So far, he's collected more than one thousand tweets. In The Toddler-in-Chief , Drezner draws on these examples to take readers through the different dimensions of Trump's infantile behavior, from temper tantrums to poor impulse control. How much damage can really be done by a giant man-baby? Quite a lot, Drezner argues, due to the winnowing away of presidential checks and balances over the past fifty years. Drezner also shows the lasting impact the Trump administration will have on American foreign policy and democracy, exhorting the American people to think carefully about the person they elect to be the next commander-in-chief. He also shows how we must rethink the terrifying powers we have given the presidency. "Occasionally funny . . . also overwhelmingly grim." — New York Times "[A] crisp, witty and highly readable philippic." — New Statesman "We have a president, Donald Trump, who disregards the norms of presidential behavior and treats those institutions of government that are designed to check presidential power, as inconvenient nuisances. Trump exhibits little knowledge of policy and has unpredictable emotional responses to criticism and crisis. Daniel Drezner contends that Donald Trump exhibits the behavior of a toddler and our response reveals the weaknesses of our ability to restrain a president. This book builds on a collection of tweets by our tweeting president and responses to them that Drezner says demonstrates toddler-like behavior as well as the failed efforts to contain his worst impulses. He uses these tweets to highlight the weaknesses of the American political system when presented with a president who operates outside the lines"-- Provided by publisher Temper Tantrums -- Short Attention Span -- Poor Impulse Control -- Oppositional Behavior -- Knowledge Deficits -- Too Much Screen Time -- Potpourri; Or, A Toddler Sampler -- When Caregivers Give Up: Staffing The Toddler In Chief -- Conclusion: Will We All Live Happily Ever After? Daniel W. Drezner. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mi Available Via World Wide Web.