Part I: Understanding People

A Five Part Framework for Succeeding in Politics

Word count: 2,496; twelve minutes to read.

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As an undergrad I took a course called “Politics, Policy, and the Press,” by Paul Begala, who was Chief Strategist for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and later Counselor to the President in the White House.

Each week we read a new book covering a specific issue impacting Americans (war, healthcare, etc.), and analyzed it from the above three perspectives.

Paul was a great professor and a nice guy despite being a liberal Democrat.

In class he didn’t care about your political affiliation, spoke with candor about D.C. famous types, and told a lot of fascinating (and funny) insider stories about his time in the White House and on various campaigns.

He was also generous with his time, and since not many students take advantage of their professors’ office hours, I was able to hang out and talk with him by myself or with one or two other students for extended periods, during which I learned a lot about how politics really work and the way Democrats view the world.

I mention this because every incoming appointee, especially those in leadership roles, must examine everything they work on during their time in President Trump’s administration through the above three lenses, plus two more: People and Process.

Properly understanding the roles of People, Policy, Process, Politics, and the Press (“The Five Ps”) is how you get the MAGA agenda done swiftly in the best way possible while protecting President Trump and yourself.

What follows is an analytical framework along with some advice on how to do the best job possible. And while the specific audience is appointees, it applies to anyone in politics, and much of the information will help you in the private sector too.

This week I’ll cover the people, and in future newsletters the rest.

People

Henry Adams, the grandson and great-grandson of presidents, and a former Republican presidential appointee (he was President Lincoln’s ambassador to the United Kingdom) wrote a famous book called The Education of Henry Adams which won the Pulitzer Prize and was named by the Modern Library as the best English-language nonfiction book of the 20th century.

In it there’s a famous quote: “Knowledge of human nature is the beginning and end of political education.”

What Adams meant was all of politics is rooted in human behavior.

Therefore, understanding human nature — the basic traits, desires, and behaviors that define individuals and groups — is central to understanding politics.