Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

Trump Desperately Needs a James Baker

Ditch the populism. He should go to a Washington insider for chief of staff.

November 11, 2016 at 1:15 PM UTC

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

James Baker with Reagan in 1981.
Photographer: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

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The most important decision Donald Trump will make in the next few days is selecting his White House chief of staff. Though he railed against Washington insiders in his campaign, he should select a Washington insider.

Ronald Reagan was an experienced two-term governor of California before he was elected president, and he had a defined political philosophy and strong views on many issues, but in some ways he was vulnerable to many of the same things Trump was when first elected.