Presented with a choice between Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner (the next Lawrence Summers) he chose both, constructing an arrangement that ensured they’d work together. He has not let petty power-plays or personal animus get in the way either — letting Joe Lieberman keep his Senate job, and even asking Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state. Whether or not his picks work out perfectly to general satisfaction, he must be given credit for simply cobbling together such an unlikely group. Obama has acknowledged his political debt to Lincoln, who famously assembled a “team of rivals” to his cabinet, believing that disagreement could strike sparks and energise administration. Obama has concentrated on what matters at this crucial juncture, and found a team that can hit the ground running.

And given that the world is still marvelling at Obama’s preternatural political ability, it might be useful to examine how cross-partisanship and openness to experiment pays off. In India, especially, when our political coalitions are merely aggregations of ambition, and face-off in mutually antagonistic postures, we could do with some audacious decision-making like that.