There are Important Crisis Prevention Lessons in Ramaswamy’s Artful Retreat from Washington
6/9/25 – – The volcanic decoupling of President Trump and Elon Musk is proof positive that Vivek Ramaswamy is a very smart guy and an excellent crisis manager.
What does Mr. Ramaswamy have to do with this breakup? He stepped back from the Trump administration months ago and is hundreds of miles away in Ohio, running for governor.
And that’s the reason for my praise. You may or may not be politically aligned with Vivek, but you have to admire his crisis management skills. Exercising excellent crisis reconnaissance and decisiveness, he saw inevitable disaster on the horizon and strategically removed himself from the line of fire.
Getting Out of DOGE
You might recall that the Department of Government Efficiency was originally going to be headed by Musk and Ramaswamy. DOGE began its work on Inauguration Day, January 20. Vivek announced his resignation that same day. When asked a week later by radio talk show host Charlamagne tha God if his exit was forced, Vivek explained that he and Musk had different approaches to government reform:
“With a constitutional law focus, with the legislative focus, some of the areas I was focused on, probably the right place to do it is elected office. And so, we all agreed on that.”
Charlamagne wasn’t buying it:
“I hear you, Vivek, I don’t believe you. I think you either got pushed out or you know that It’s going to implode. I think that you know Elon is gonna crash and burn it, and you’re a smart guy.”
Less than five months later, DOGE is leaderless and the Trump/Musk relationship has crashed and burned. Space X would call it a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
Unscathed by the fallout and controversy, Vivek is among the favorites to be the Republican nominee in Ohio’s 2026 gubernatorial election.
Smart Guy with a Great Life Story
We didn’t need this drama to validate the 39-year-old billionaire’s smarts. Born in Cincinnati to Indian immigrant parents, he graduated from Harvard with a degree in Biology and from Yale Law School. Vivek made a fortune as a hedge fund investor before founding the very successful biotech pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences. His 2021 book, “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” was a bestseller, establishing him as a conservative thought leader.
He ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination without provoking Donald Trump (he didn’t even earn a nasty nickname), and became an articulate surrogate for Trump during his reelection campaign. Recognizing his entrepreneurial skills and intellectual capabilities, Trump asked Vivek to co-head his DOGE initiative.
It didn’t take long for Vivek to conclude that sharing leadership responsibility with the mercurial Mr. Musk while preserving his relationship with the truculent Mr. Trump was a fool’s errand.
Lessons in Crisis Awareness and Response
Vivek’s tactful exit from his brief partnership with Musk holds valuable lessons for anyone trying to avoid crises:
- Don’t stay in a relationship or continue down a path you believe threatens your reputation.
- Once you’re convinced there is no remedy for the vulnerability, act.
- Strategically change course with grace, burning as few bridges as possible.
- Focus on your own priorities.
Having artfully avoided the reputational storm still raging in Washington, Vivek could conceivably get the support of both Trump and Musk in his race for governor in the Buckeye State. That’s, of course, if he wants both endorsements. For now, it looks like he’s following his own path, keeping his options open.
That’s what excellent crisis managers do.
Crisis Quotient Blog 