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- Indispensable Newsletter #3
Welcome back to the Indispensable Newsletter!
I’ve got some great stuff for you in this issue. A deep dive into Biden’s strategy during an unprecedented State of The Union address, a roundup of some of the appearances I’ve made lately, and a collection of things I’m reading, watching, and listening to.
If you’ve been enjoying the newsletter, I’d love if you took a second and shared it with a friend.
Also don’t forget to pick up a copy of my most recent book, Picking Presidents. If you already have, be sure to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads!
Let's dive in!
Deep Dive: SOTU and Biden's sniper-sharp strategy
The dust has settled, but some of us are probably still reeling from the chaos that was this year’s State of the Union address. I know I was shocked by what I saw.
There has, as far as I know, never been a SOTU like this. Prior to Wilson in 1913 or 1914, they were written correspondence, and in the 100+ years since the first spoken SOTU, not one has devolved into the level of chaos that we saw two weeks ago.
But the most interesting part is that I’m quite sure that chaos didn’t happen by chance. The opposite is true, I believe. If you ask me, I’d say it was—as the Joker would say—all part of the plan.
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People on both sides of the aisle like to poke fun at Biden and criticize his age and fragility. I even once wrote a piece called “Don’t Trust Anyone Over 70” about the disadvantages of older leaders. There’s no denying the disadvantages of elderly politicians. Fluid intelligence— the ability to handle new situations—declines starting at age 18.
But on the flipside, being an old politician means you’ve been around the block. You’ve done this for a long time—longer than most of your opponents—and you know some tricks. Crystallized intelligence—which comes from prior knowledge and past experiences—keeps on improving with age. It’s particularly useful when you’re handling familiar situations. And when you are the most experienced President in American history—that’s Joe Biden—most situations are familiar. Biden has an unrivaled stock of crystallized intelligence. And he used it during the State of the Union.
Biden knew the internal dynamics of the Republican party, and he knew that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, visible in the frame just over Biden’s shoulder, would feel compelled to keep his “game face” on throughout the speech.
So when Biden made pointed remarks about the incredibly low 3.1% unemployment rate—a number that is unambiguously good news—McCarthy couldn’t applaud because he knew his coalition didn’t want him to be seen as being supportive of anything Biden’s team accomplished or supported.
And when Biden joked that his “friends,” the Republicans, wanted to cut social security, he knew such a statement would force them to admit that cutting those benefits isn’t helpful for anyone. They say, “Oh that’s not true!” and Biden gets to joke that he’s relieved to hear they’re on his side.
Throughout the evening, the lack of self-control and decorum spread throughout the Republicans present, eventually turning into a full-blown circus. If the Republicans were as disciplined as they were 20 years ago, this wouldn’t have worked. McCarthy would’ve enforced discipline on the House floor and maintained an air of composure.
Instead, Biden said just enough to goad visible party members into exclamations they couldn’t justify. He knew their position, knew their tendency and proclivities, and he used it to his advantage. And that is top-level strategy.
His team was thinking in a game theoretic way, not just doing something to do it, but doing something in expectation that it’d generate a response they could take advantage of—with the confidence that Biden would be able to depart from script and handle whatever the out of control Republicans in the crowd threw at him. And that is what I think happened. Nothing about that night makes sense unless we contextualize it that way—that it was a well-crafted, intentional, experience-driven strategic move.
Biden played to his strengths, and he was able to force his opponents into a corner, and that is outstanding politics.
From the Pod
World Reimagined is on hiatus right now after wrapping up Season 4, so I wanted to highlight an older episode from Season 2 that has taken on some new significance.
Back in August 2021, I interviewed Ajay Banga, the former CEO of Mastercard. At the time, Ajay was Mastercard’s Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, but recently, he was nominated to head the World Bank. I’m excited for him—and for the work that he’s going to do there.
In this episode, Ajay is joined by Bhaskar Chakravorti, the Dean of Global Business at Tufts University’s Fletcher School. We discuss the importance of building a more digitally inclusive world—and the barriers that stand in the way.
In the Arena
The Leadership Tales Podcast with Colin Hunter
Colin Hunter is a leadership expert, and I was honored to recently sit down with him and talk about the process of choosing the people in charge. We discuss the filtration process that creates leaders, the difference between filtered and unfiltered presidents, and how leaders are chosen by organizations and nations.
Political Gabfest Podcast with John Dickerson
John Dickerson is by far one of the most insightful and influential journalists in our lifetime, and I had an incredible time talking about how our populace goes about picking presidents. One thing John asked me was about how “seeds of disaster” are embedded in the way we choose our leaders, which I explained is because we are very prone to selecting unfiltered candidates.
Mukunda's Media: What I'm Reading, Watching, and Listening to
How the War Was Won - Phillips Payson O’Brien
I’m currently reading How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II by historian Phillips Payson O’Brien, and it’s absolutely stunning. I like it because most historians think of WW2 as a massive land battle that consumed much of the globe, but O’Brien posits that in terms of production, technology, and economic power, it was far more a contest of air and sea supremacy. I’ve read more books on World War II than I can count, and on almost every page of this book I learned something that made me think that everything I thought I knew about how the Allies won World War II was wrong.
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I just watched and LOVED "Ms. Marvel," the Disney+ series based on Marvel character Kamala Khan. It follows the journey of Khan, a 16-year-old Avengers fangirl who struggles to fit into the world—until she develops super powers of her own. It was a fantastic series, and I was surprisingly moved by seeing a South Asian American superhero kicking butt and taking names.
Tweet of the Week
The Power of One
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves."
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