One of my few vivid memories of the presidency came 50 years ago this month.
I was interning for a right-wing newspaper, believe it or not. I was sitting on a carpeted floor, part of the audience for William F. Buckley’s Firing Line. Despite being just 19 I was wearing a suit because I was a reporter, and reporters wear suits. Before the taping I was asked to sit in the chair of that night’s guest, so the cameraman could get the lighting right.
The guest was Gerald Ford.
Ford and Buckley spent about an hour discussing the Nixon impeachment. I believe it was during this interview that it finally dawned on Ford he would soon become President.
He took it calmly.
I wished I could do calm that well. I can’t.
Whenever I speak in front of people, I get excited by my own words and argument, to the point where others believe me to be yelling. They tune out. I don’t blame them. I can be calm on a keyboard, but only if I have time to edit my words.
Calm is a precious commodity these days. Whoever can supply it can gain the confidence of other people.
Calm explains the enduring affection millions now hold for Joe Biden. His ability to hold himself together in terrible times is legendary.
This is the key to winning in every field. Watch Pat Mahomes before a snap, Caitlin Clark bringing the ball up court, Simone Biles before a tumbling run. Everyone else is screaming or holding their breath. They’re calm and relaxed.
Michael Lewis described the value of calm in his first best-seller, Liar’s Poker.” When the stakes reach their height on the trading floor, the best traders remain calm.
Delivering Calm
Calm comes from confidence, which in turn comes from practice, from preparation. If you’ve done the work, you can be confident. If you haven’t, or if you fear you haven’t, you try to get by on bluster. Most people can see it. The Silent Majority wants calm.
Reporters and pundits have been ignoring the value of calm for years. They want conflict. Critics say they want chaos, but conflict is what makes stories sing on TV. Today’s reporters can’t handle the fact that real progress, in every field, comes not from the bombast of a leader, but from 1,000 small decisions made in quiet rooms, discussions often led by introverts who recoil from attention.
Throughout American history, the party that projects calm has nearly always won. We forget that Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election by 3 million votes. This has broken American politics. We saw calm confidence lose the prize of history to cynical strategizing, and we lost confidence in everything.
But these last 4 years have been an exercise in calm. The economy is great. Inflation is falling. Crime is down. People are getting rich in the market. This is because calm people, who understand their subjects, lead most executive departments.
We have a huge opportunity right now to make real progress on issues like climate, housing, and education, if we only do the work of democracy and remain calm.
If you’re selling calm, I’m buying.
