Trump’s Second Year Could Be Even Worse

On April 4, 1841, President William Henry Harrison died. Having lasted a month, he is without question the president who had the grimmest first year in office. Donald Trump hasn’t bested that record, but he’s making a valiant push for the runner-up spot, for which he’ll have to edge out Ronald Reagan, who was shot, James Garfield, who was shot dead, and Abe Lincoln, who saw the nation descend into civil war.

In his first year, Trump has failed to repeal and replace Obamacare, failed to appoint enough staff to implement his policy agenda, seen multiple high-level staffers resign, seen his campaign investigated for its ties to Russia, and given that investigation greater heft by firing the FBI chief overseeing it. The swamp remains undrained, the wall is unbuilt, there is no major infrastructure plan. There is a new Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch. And while some regulations have been eased, it’s cold comfort given how little progress he’s made elsewhere. The latest Gallup poll shows a third of the country approving of the job he’s doing; that could drop in coming days, especially after the indictment of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a guilty plea from campaign aide George Papadopoulos.