With all the challenges the nation faces today, I am frequently asked whether another Operation Warp Speed (OWS)-like initiative is in order. For instance, I have been asked “Can’t we use an OWS initiative to cure cancer?” “How about applying it to our supply chain issues?” And most recently, “Can we use an OWS process to make more baby formula?”
My answer is always the same: Perhaps, but not under this administration.
Operation Warp Speed has been described as nothing short of a scientific “miracle.” This could not be further from the truth. Warp Speed’s achievement of bringing safe and effective vaccines to the American people in 80 percent less time than ever before was the result of a deliberate strategy, exacting execution, exceptional teamwork and inspired leadership. As important, it was the beneficiary of an underlying ideology and set of experiences present in the previous administration yet absent in the current one.
An inveterate belief in the power of America’s private sector. The Trump team was ideologically disposed to believing America’s private sector possessed the ingenuity, innovative spirit and industrial dexterity to rapidly address our most pressing challenges.