President Trump’s First 100 Days: Much to Like, Much More to Dread

Two things cause me to rebel at the notion of handing out a report card on the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term. One is that the whole “first 100 days” is a monarchical formulation adopted by Franklin D. Roosevelt (our most monarchical president) in an echo of the famed “hundred days” of Napoleon’s return from exile in 1815 (never mind how that ended at Waterloo).

The other — which counseled against publishing this column until Day 101 — is that Trump’s first term taught us hard lessons in the dangers of grading Trump before he was done: He looked much better in January 2020 than in October 2020, and much better in October 2020 than in January 2021 — in spite of the fact that two of the greatest triumphs of his first term (the Amy Coney Barrett nomination and Operation Warp Speed) could not be graded before October and November of 2020.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Two things cause me to rebel at the notion of handing out a report card on the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term. One is that the whole “first 100 days” is a monarchical formulation adopted by Franklin D. Roosevelt (our most monarchical president) in an echo of the famed “hundred days” of Napoleon’s return from exile in 1815 (never mind how that ended at Waterloo).

The other — which counseled against publishing this column until Day 101 — is that Trump’s first term taught us hard lessons in the dangers of grading Trump before he was done: He looked much better in January 2020 than in October 2020, and much better in October 2020 than in January 2021 — in spite of the fact that two of the greatest triumphs of his first term (the Amy Coney Barrett nomination and Operation Warp Speed) could not be graded before October and November of 2020.