Bolton is a clever infighter. He learned from the best. He pushed to go to war in Iraq and still thinks it was a good idea, just as he has pushed to go to war in North Korea and get regime change in Iran and Syria. He is a fervent believer in pre-emptive war.

(Like other war hawks, Bolton didn’t want to serve himself, enlisting in the National Guard in 1970 to ensure he wouldn’t “die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy” in Vietnam.)

The president who loves to push hot buttons and hire Fox analysts must really get a kick out of Bolton’s tempestuous style if he is now willing to overlook the 69-year-old’s unruly mustache and frightening faith in pre-emption.

After all those years of criticizing W. on war, Trump is now letting himself be guided by W.’s most hawkish adviser. And the president, whose curiosity only extends to himself, seems determined to stay an empty vessel. That makes him, like W., a magnet for extremists who want to hijack the Oval.