Is Barack Obama a lousy manager?

 

Sunday 20 January 2013 17:17 GMT
Comments
President Barack Obama may be forced to accept the imminent departure of his Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner
President Barack Obama may be forced to accept the imminent departure of his Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner (The White House)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

As the President is sworn in for his second term, several critical commentators have alighted on the issue of his management skills. And on these, something like a consensus is emerging, in which it's commonly said that he doesn't really have any.

Writing in the New York Times, David Rothkopf argues that it's not just Congress that Obama has been lousy at managing, it's the Oval Office too: "The administration has not done a good job of delegating to and empowering cabinet officials. Nor does it seem to have built necessary teams and coalitions or anticipated and planned for likely challenges. The Obama team’s failure to make the most of stimulus funding, to make progress on climate change, react swiftly to international crises in Egypt, Libya and Syria, and to maintain good relations with allies on Capitol Hill and beyond stem from lack of managerial skill."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in