During the election, I did not support Donald Trump, but I really, really didn’t support Hillary Clinton. 

I thought Donald Trump had the wrong personality and no experience in government to be a good president.  After 100 days, I haven’t changed my mind.

However, he has done some very good things that pleasantly surprised me.

Neil Gorsuch should be a classic, traditional associate Supreme Court justice, who won’t decide cases on anything but existing law. In other words, he won’t let his opinion of what is good policy versus bad policy enter into his decision. That’s why we have a legislative branch.

He also picked retired Gen. James Mattis as secretary of defense.

It took a special waiver from Congress for Gen. Mattis even to be considered to lead the Department of Defense. Because of a consensus among leaders in Washington that he was a superb choice, he quickly passed that hurdle. 

Mattis was given the nickname, “Mad Dog” by ordinary Marines serving under him. Imagine what kind of a Marine earns that nickname? Special personal qualities are necessary to earn that kind of an affectionate nickname by tough, elite Marines. 

Watching him during his confirmation hearings, it was stunning to see a tough warrior handle senators with so much intelligence and skill. He has established a sterling record so far at the Defense Department.

Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon, for secretary of state seemed very strange at first. He has never served in government but had strong connections with governments where Exxon had done business. Many people thought he might be too friendly with Vladimir Putin. 

His confirmation and conduct of business since confirmation like James Mattis has changed minds.  He went to Moscow and told the Russians that they must behave in Syria. He did it soberly but clearly without obscuring his message in diplomatic language. 

Then he told North Korea that the “era of strategic patience” is over. No longer will the U.S. play stupid games with North Korea, or China for that matter, because the threat from North Korea has reached a point when the U.S. will act unilaterally if China doesn’t help. No longer will the U.S. negotiate just to get North Korea to come to the negotiating table.

There is a seriousness that seems to have impressed the Chinese.

Retired Gen. John Kelly for Homeland Security was one of his least controversial choices because he didn’t need a waiver like General Mattis. His serious, no-nonsense demeanor quickly established him as a strong leader of that department. He sailed through confirmation hearings and almost immediately headed to the Southwest border.  Whether Gen. Kelly is responsible personally or other factors dominated, illegal border crossings are down more than 70 percent in recent weeks.

That was the good news. Now we still must see whether ex-CEO Donald Trump can persuade Congress to pass tax reform, health care reform, and, more importantly, can he bring wildly antagonistic parts of the electorate together. 

The skills that business experience develops may not translate to politics. The last non-politician president who was successful was Ronald Reagan, and he served two terms as governor of California before serving as president. 

Can Donald Trump learn to persuade? I don’t know.  He is a quick learner and there is no doubt that he is intelligent. He can figure things out.

Changing one’s personality, however, is a very much harder thing.

Reagan could charm his opponents. So far, Trump’s opponents on the left show no signs that any of them are charmed by this president. Even some conservatives remain suspicious and on guard regarding the president.

Health care and tax reform will either make or break Trump’s presidency. We’ll know in the next five or six months whether he will become a respected leader or whether he become an odd footnote in our history. 

My grade for him so far: foreign policy, A; domestic policy, C; plays well with others, needs to improve.

Michael Waldron is a retired lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, who was born and raised in Niles. He previously served on the Niles Community School Board of Education. He can be reached at ml.waldron@sbcglobal.net.