Somebody's Gotta Do the Job. But Just What Is It?

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The Reagan Library faxed me three days in Ronald Reagan's "daily diary" from 1982 and 1983. I asked for typical days. What jumps out is how tightly structured they were, how jammed with meetings, almost all with senior staff by his side. On one day, Reagan went from the residence to the Oval Office at 9:03 a.m.; on another day at 9:02 a.m.; on the third at 9 a.m. He punched out at 5:41 p.m., 5:07 p.m. and 5:04 p.m., respectively.

Never known for long hours, so detached from details that he didn't recognize one of his own Cabinet secretaries, Reagan somehow succeeded in advancing his agenda.

The current president wanted to be like Reagan. He is similarly a creature of habit. He's an early starter, usually arriving at the Oval Office at 6:45 a.m., according to his press secretary, Dana Perino. His chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, will be nearby, but will give him a few minutes to sip his coffee in peace.

This past Wednesday was a typical day. The record shows that Bush had breakfast at 7:15 a.m. with the king of Jordan. He had his usual 8 a.m. intelligence briefing. He held meetings with senior staff and the secretary of defense. At 10:40, he motorcaded to the Capitol, where, at 11:05, he participated in a ceremony honoring heart surgeon Michael DeBakey. Back at the White House, his schedule included a photo op with organ donors, Perino said. At 2:10 p.m., he had a meeting with some business leaders, and at 2:30, he met with Republicans from Congress. At 3:35, he briefly addressed the media about National Small Business Week.

Invariably, Bush has an exercise period in the mix, and almost invariably, he stays at home in the evening.

"His docking station, as it were, is the residence, and specifically the bedroom where he and Mrs. Bush sit and read books at night," says Robert Draper, author of "Dead Certain," a book about the Bush administration.

Then lights out at 9 p.m., or not much later.

Bush very rarely goes out on the town. He seldom appears before audiences that aren't carefully screened in advance. By his own account, he is immersed in the war he began. In Gallup polling, his disapproval ratings are the highest in history. A number of historians have asserted that he is the worst president the nation has ever had, which, if nothing else, is the best news that fans of Warren G. Harding have had in years.

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The last century is littered with failed or mediocre presidencies. The job nearly crushed men who once strode the landscape like titans. They self-destructed in some cases, or had no business being in the job in the first place. Caro talks about the aging of the presidents: In photos, you see the years getting etched on their faces with alarming speed. Presidents age in dog years.

Lawrence Wilkerson, a Republican who served as chief of staff to former secretary of state Colin Powell, is no fan of the current president ("A good aphorism to describe this presidency is the Do Nothing Presidency Except Screw Up," he told me). But asked if the job is even doable, he said, "Not by a single man, not unless he's Superman."

With all due respect to Hillary Rodham Clinton's signature slogan, no one is ever completely "ready on Day One" for the job of the presidency. There's no job like it. Anyone who becomes president is making a daring leap -- and asking the country to make the leap simultaneously. To run for president is an ostentatious act.

Here's what is certain: Next January, we'll have a new president. And the president will need help.

achenbachj@washpost.com

Joel Achenbach is a reporter on the national staff of The Post and blogs athttp://washingtonpost.com/achenblog.