75BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK- THE OVAL OFFICE
ontollroads;NewYorkhastremendously
improved air quality. Big-city may-
orsshouldgetmorepoweroverpolice,
schools,transport;theyshouldalsobe
encouragedtocopysuccessfulideasfrom
othercitiesthrough a special federal gov-
ernment fund.
- Reinvigorate talent
Anyoverhaul of government has to
includeimprovingthequalityofitspeo-
ple.InSingapore,civilservantscanget
paid$1milliona yearwhilebadonesare
quicklysacked.ButinAmerica’spub-
licsector,thebestaregrosslyunderpaid
byprivate-sectorstandardswhile,if you
takeperksandpensionsintoaccount,the
worstareoverpaid.BillLincolnwould
startpayingtheheadsofgovernment
departmentswhattheycouldgetinthe
privatesector—whileimposinglimitson
whattheycandoafterpublicservice,to
closetherevolvingdoortoK Street.
Flatpayscalesarecommonacrossthe
West.ButwhereAmericareallydistin-
guishesitself—andnotina goodway—isin
thenumberofpoliticalappointmentsat
thetop.Ambassadorshipsgotothehigh-
estbidder,inmuchthesamewayEurope
didit inthe18thcentury;diplomatjobs
shouldgo toprofessionals. America
didn’thavea revolutiononlytobuild its
ownversionoftheancienrégime.
Bill Lincoln would also copy
Singapore’sideaof scholarshipsfor
publicservice:paythefullfeesofpoor
studentsateliteuniversitiesinreturnfor
a commitmentthatthey’llworkfor,say,
fiveyearsinthepublicsector.Thispro-
gramwouldreconnecttheIvyLeague
withthelifeofthe nation—currently
moreHarvardstudentscomefromthe
richest10thofthepopulationthanfrom
thebottomhalf—andgovernmentwould
gaina talentedyoungpersonwhosaw
thecitizensoftheBronxasfriendsand
neighborsratherthanjustasstatistics.
Andwhileheis tryingtoreconnectthe
elitetothegovernment,whynotcon-
siderintroducing(nonmilitary) national
service for the young?
- Make government dowdy
PrimeMinisterGladstonewassobenton
savingmoneythathetoldhiscivilser-
vants to use cheaper writing paper. In
AbrahamLincoln’stime,Washingtonwas
a smallSoutherntownthatwasregarded
asa hardshippostingfordiplomats:You
gotpaidmoretoserveintheswampy
summer. Nowadays, thepresidency
hasbecomeimperial in style as well as
substance.
Wehavetoadmitthat,despitehis
reputation forparsimony, the origi-
nalLincolnoverspentonredecorating
theWhiteHouse.OurPresidentLincoln
wouldthuscopyGladstone—wholived
onbreadandwaterandlikedwalking
everywhere—andalsoPopeFrancis.The
pontiffliveslikea pauperanddriveshim-
selfaroundina simple,oldRenault.It is
mucheasierforpopesandpresidentsto
cutunnecessaryspendingif theydon’t
spendtheirlifeina cocoonofprivilege.
Presidents shouldn’t live like emperors.- Rebuild the West and
expand it
OnethingBillLincolnwouldstudyis
the “Huawei barometer,” a mapon
Bloomberg’swebsitethatshowswhich
countriesaccepttheChinesetechgiant’s
kit.Sofar,despiteenergeticarm-twisting,
nottomentionallthemoneyit spendson
itsallies’defense,theU.S.haspersuaded
onlyAustralia,Japan,andTaiwantoban
theChinesetechgiant,withtheU.K.now
limitingsomeaccess.MostofEurope and
Asiahaveignoreditsplea.
IftheU.S.keepslosingallies,itspower
willebb,nomatterhowmuchit reforms
athome.OurPresidentLincolnbelieves
theWestisaboutmorethanjustgeog-
raphy.Ratherthanlookingthroughthe
prismof“AmericaFirst”andnationalism,
hewouldfollowtheformulathatwonthe
ColdWar:talkaboutfreedommoreand
unitethedemocracies,sotheyspeakas
one.BillLincolnwouldstartrebuilding
Westerninstitutions,especiallyNATO.
Whyaren’tthedemocraciesoftheEast—
countriessuchasIndia,Indonesia,and
SouthKorea,nottomention Australia
andJapan—tiedinaswell?
The Westneeds to be expanded,
notmilitarilybutasa stateofmind,so
that,whenChinatramplesfreedomsin
HongKong,thedemocraciesspeakas
one.Collectively,theycarryfarmore
cloutthantheautocracies:Chinacould
neverhopetooutsmartthem,if they
spoke together. For all China’s “maskdiplomacy”inthewakeofthecorona-
virus,thereis stilla deepdistrustofthe
MiddleKingdomaroundtheworld,not
least in Asia, and an affection for the U.S.The Ship of StateIn1849,oneofAmerica’sgreatestpoets,
HenryWadsworthLongfellow,wrotea
poemaboutthestateoftheRepublic.
Thepoemwascalled“TheBuildingof
theShip”;theshipwascalledtheUnion
and,inthefirst draft, it came to a miser-
able end:Wreckeduponsometreacherousrock,
Rottinginsomeloathsomedock,
Suchtheendmustbeatlength
Of all this loveliness and strength!Butatthelastmoment,Longfellow
hada changeofheartandwrotea new
endingwithsomeofthemostfamous
lines in the American canon:Though,too,sailon,OshipofState!
Sailon,OUnion,strongandgreat!
Humanitywithallitsfears
Withallthehopesoffutureyears
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!America—and with it the West—
facesa choicebetweentwoendings:
oneinwhichtheshipcontinuestorot
andanotherinwhichit’srepairedand
rejiggered.Theshipofstatehasbeen
neglected,butthebasicdesignisstill
soundandthespiritofthecrewisstill
strong.Wehaveconstructedanambi-
tiousprogramforourfantasypresident.
Youcantamperwithsomeofourdesigns:
If youdon’tlikeCanada’shealthsystem,
borrowFrance’s,orexpandMedicare.
(Forthatmatter,there’snoreasonfor
“BillLincoln”tobea Whitemale.)But
Americacannotignorethatotherships
arebeginningtogopastit.Therestof
theworldis notstayingstill.It is inallour
intereststhattheunionsailson,“strong
and great.” It is time to wake up. <BW>ThisessayisexcerptedfromTheWake-Up
Call:WhythePandemicHasExposed
theWeaknessoftheWest,andHowto
FixIt, byJohnMicklethwaitandAdrian
Wooldridge.TobepublishedbyShort
Books onSept. 3 inthe U.K. and by
HarperVia in the U.S. on Sept.15.