Still not three weeks into Barack Obama’s presidency, it is preposterous to be talking of an administration that has come unglued – yet some previously admiring observers have been saying just that. The new president has had a bad week, to be sure, and is learning fast about the differences between managing a campaign and leading a government. But almost all presidents have bumpy starts. In many ways Mr Obama is managing his early days better than most.

The withdrawal of Tom Daschle’s nomination to head Health and Human Services, the lead agency in carrying out Mr Obama’s promise to reform US healthcare, was a bad setback. It turned out Mr Daschle had a lot of unpaid taxes. After Treasury secretary Tim Geithner’s similar difficulties – he was confirmed in his post, but more narrowly than expected – and the withdrawal of yet another nominee over taxes, the administration had to cope with an unaccustomed outbreak of derision.