Alan Cranston, the former senator from California and one of the infamous Keating Five, wass always known as a formidable backroom operator.

Joe Biden once said of Cranston, "Alan Cranston understood power not as a reflection of status but as a tool with a purpose.'

As much as I admire POTUS, sometimes I think he relies too much on his outsized personality and intellect rather than on using the power of his office as a tool with a purpose.