The US famously bounced back from a pandemic recession that struck like a hammer blow in 2020. Fueled by a massive government rescue effort that pumped tremendous amounts of money into the economy, the nation was soon outpacing rivals in a return to growth. The country that saw more than a million people killed by Covid-19 not only avoided a depression, but eventually reached a level of employment so high it matched a half century-old record from when Richard Nixon was president.

But that was then. For Donald Trump, it’s not Nixon but Gerald Ford that comes to mind this week. The president closes out his first 100 days in office able to claim almost-singlehanded responsibility for sending the S&P 500 Index down about 8%. It’s the worst first 100 days for markets since 1974, when Ford took over for his disgraced predecessor.