As a stalwart NeverTrumper to the very end, I opposed Donald Trump for his downside. But he does have an upside.

Trump’s downside is serious and frightening. From a policy perspective, his anti-free trade stance is a threat to America’s economic might and his “come home America” foreign policy rhetoric, if implemented, would threaten Pax Americana.

Even more concerning is Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. His effusive praise of dictators, his suggestion that he wants to weaken the first amendment to go after publications that say nasty things about him, his mainstreaming of conspiracy theories – all this is more than a little bit worrisome.

Then there is Trump’s temperament. His early hour Twitter rants against those who he perceives to have dishonored him don’t provide great confidence that this is someone who can lead the country in a time of national crisis.

Given all this, it was fair to conclude that Trump’s downside was far more dangerous than Hillary Clinton’s. But Trump has an upside too – one far greater for conservative NeverTrumpers than Clinton’s. It’s worth considering.

A successful Trump administration would start with selecting top talent to fill cabinet posts. Trump has every right to appoint only campaign loyalists to top posts, people like Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Lt Gen Mike Flynn and even Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke.

Some of Trump’s loyalists might make able cabinet secretaries. Many others would not. But there is evidence Trump is looking beyond his early supporters to some very talented leaders who were mild and even severe critics of him. For instance, Mitt Romney, who once called Trump a fraud and a phony, is reportedly meeting with Trump this weekend to discuss the secretary of state vacancy.

So if Trump focuses on capability rather than blind loyalty, he would be setting his administration on the right path. While Trump announced Friday the nomination of Sessions for attorney general and the appointment of Flynn as his national security adviser, he has also asked widely respected Congressman Mike Pompeo – first in his class at West Point, Harvard Law grad – to be CIA director.

If Trump continues along the lines of the Pompeo pick and chooses, say, Romney or even a John Bolton for secretary of state, Sen Tom Cotton or Gen Jim Mattis for secretary of defense, and so on, America should cheer.

If, conversely, you start seeing people like conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney or Sheriff Joe Arpaio named to top positions, then the Trump administration will likely be a total disaster.

If you get top talent in the most important posts, there is some possibility they may be able to help shift Trump away from his worst polices. Maybe instead of pushing tariffs, Trump can be nudged into focusing on a massive tax overhaul and eliminating stifling regulations. Maybe instead of withdrawing from the world and allowing bad actors like Russia to dominate regions, Trump can be coaxed into focusing instead on defeating Isis and standing up to Iran’s regional ambitions. If so, America might not recede economically and internationally under a Trump presidency, but be revived.

It is true that personnel picks don’t always matter. But there is some evidence that Trump’s choices could be far more important than perhaps under president in American history. An adviser to Ohio governor John Kasich reported over the summer that he was contacted by Donald Trump Jr to see if Kasich would join Trump’s ticket. To woo Kasich, Trump junior reportedly promised that Kasich would control both domestic and foreign policy in a Trump White House. When the Kasich adviser asked what President Trump would then do, the reply was: “Mak[e] America Great Again”.

If that’s true, it would suggest Trump would like to be more like the Queen of England, a figurehead who leaves much of the policy nitty-gritty to vice-president Mike Pence, his White House Staff and his Cabinet. That would be something worth celebrating.

Even if Trump is more involved in running the government than Queen Elizabeth, there is reason to believe some of his most caustic campaign rhetoric was just for political effect. Trump has already walked back some of his most draconian policy statements. For instance, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday, Trump said his focus would be to deport criminal illegal aliens, not all illegal immigrants as he once pledged.

Like everyone, NeverTrumpers are monitoring each and every action by the president-elect to see what direction the Trump presidency seems to be headed in.

But no matter who Trump picks for top jobs in his administration, the direction of his presidency will largely depend on Trump himself. Can he transform himself from a campaign madman into a leader worthy of the Oval Office? So far there has been contradictory signals. But for the good of American and the world, we have to pray we get the upside of a Trump presidency – and not its frightening downside.