A firm hand
John Kelly must quell the White House chaos
The installation of John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, as White House chief of staff is the best personnel move that President Donald Trump could make. Mr. Kelly proved immediately that he does not suffer fools gladly or in any other mood, forcing out Anthony Scaramucci as communications director. In his 11 indelible days of service, Mr. Scaramucci may have demonstrated affection and loyalty to the president, but the voluble financier served only to encourage the worst tendencies of Mr. Trump. The task ahead of Mr. Kelly is enforcing discipline in the fractious West Wing staff — which includes the occupant of the Oval Office.
Trump adviser Newt Gingrich told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Kelly will be given more power than his predecessor, Reince Priebus, a Republican Party fixture who never gained traction. Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker who often speaks frankly about the president, remarked that “Trump, of course, reserves the right to cause chaos himself,” but qualified the quip by noting that the president “likes an orderly system.” Indeed, Mr. Trump is drawn to things military and is fond of heeding the counsel of “my generals.” It’s not a stretch to cite the president’s high school years at the New York Military Academy as a formative experience. Sent to the private school by his hard-driving father in order to get his rambunctiousness under control, the young “D.T.” thrived in the rigorous atmosphere (while pushing social rules to their limits). Mr. Kelly is a four-star general who served in Iraq and later oversaw the U.S. Southern Command. He could well remind Mr. Trump of his youthful experience — another round of military school.
Yet Mr. Kelly, 67, brings more than martial discipline to the White House. Over the course of his career, he was legislative assistant to the commandant of the Marine Corps, followed by stints as senior military adviser to defense secretaries during the Obama administration. Both of those roles required him to comprehend the byways of Washington, where not everyone snaps to attention upon mere command. That experience was a prelude to becoming secretary of homeland security, where he demonstrated the prized characteristic of public loyalty to Mr. Trump but never to the point of obsequiousness. A military professional to the core, Mr. Kelly has always pledged loyalty to the country, not a political party.
The rise of Mr. Kelly reflects Mr. Trump’s acknowledgement that he needs to be disciplined or the White House chaos will only get worse. If the former Marine commander can enforce parameters on presidential Twitter use, all the better.