Everybody needs to get used to a businessman president

You know what the Beltway scolds think: Incoming president Donald Trump is flouting 60 years of tradition and sabotaging the sanctity of the White House.

He’s cutting corners on ethics rules. Appointing people without government experience to his Cabinet. Intervening personally in matters like defense budgeting and antitrust reviews that are typically handled by lower-ranking functionaries—and doing it before he even takes office! The whole federal bureaucracy may seize up.

Or, it may heave and quake and settle into some new and improved routines. Americans are disgusted with sclerotic and unresponsive government dominated by self-dealing crony capitalists. That includes many voters who can’t stand Trump. If the incoming president joins the swamp instead of draining it, he’ll flame out soon enough and earn a sharp rebuke from an electorate that is unsure of him to start with. But the moment may be right for a business leader to take the helm of government, and Trump could be just the beginning of a new wave of corporate poobahs who see fresh pathways to political power.

A different kind of outsider

Trump is breaking the mold in Washington because the mold was formed around career politicians borne of the hidebound bureaucracy Americans are now sick of. Sure, there were “outsiders” such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton who came from far beyond Washington. But Trump is unique in two ways: First, he’s never held office (unlike Reagan or Clinton) and instead of politicking, he has spent his entire career building a family business. Second, that business is privately owned by Trump and his family, rather than publicly owned, which makes divestment much trickier than if Trump simply had to sell shares in a public company, and quit.

Ethics purists say Trump should sell his entire stake in the Trump Organization, to eliminate the chance his business can profit from his presidency. The goal is certainly valid, but the method violates common sense. The company would cease to be the Trump Organization without Trump, and most Americans would probably find the sacrifice excessive.

There’s nothing in the US Constitution or any of the nation’s other founding documents that says a career businessperson can’t become president, or a businessperson who does become president must come from a publicly traded company with ties that can be easily dissolved. How about this, instead: Why don’t the ethics pros suggest some new rules that apply to people who come from a world other than theirs? Didn’t voters just say they’re sick of career bureaucrats who become deaf to the concerns of ordinary people? Didn’t they just reject the inside-the-Beltway status quo?

When Michael Bloomberg was mayor of New York City, he relinquished operational control of the self-named company he owned three-quarters of. But he didn’t put that ownership stake in a blind trust, and when he ended his final term as mayor he returned to running his company. There were no major conflicts of interest involving Bloomberg, L.P. during Bloomberg’s three terms as mayor. Trump seems to be mimicking that, even though the presidency is obviously on a different level than any mayorship.

Bringing business sensibility to government

If this sounds like a blind defense of Donald Trump, think again. Trump’s unlikely success undoubtedly caught the attention of other business figures with political ambition who may have declined to run for president or other high office because they figured they couldn’t win. Trump proved political outsiders with a successful business record can win. Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks (SBUX) CEO, is a Democrat who advised Hilary Clinton and has activist impulses himself. Even though he says he’s not planning to run for president, he’s got to be thinking that maybe he could be a more compelling Democratic candidate in 2020 than the handful of usual senators and governors, who are probably angling for the nomination already.

Some other big business names who could run: Facebook (FB) Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprises (HPE) (who already ran once for governor of California), JP Morgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon, or even Bloomberg. Some of those figures would have an easier time disengaging from their businesses than Trump, by resigning and selling shares in public companies. But if they won, it would be with a similar mission to apply business sensibility to government and make it more productive.

Trump’s critics could turn out to be right. His business interests might generate unending controversy that wrecks his credibility and political capital. His outsider Cabinet might lack the political skills to get things done. His end-runs around bureaucratic procedure might produce illegitimate results. But Trump deserves the chance to prove that a business leader can become a good political leader. If he does, there might be others.

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.