Overheated critics of President Trump accuse him of being an authoritarian. Of not caring about checks and balances, civil rights, and constitutional limits on executive power. And yet, today, many of these same critics demand that he nationalize supply chains, deploy the military on our shores and shut down every town in America. It’s a curious thing.

The coronavirus presents enormous national challenges that call for a strong federal response. But we should not lose sight of the essential role that states and governors must play. America is better served when presidents respect the diversity of states instead of dictating uniform solutions.

As a governor, when you take the oath of office to serve your state, you don’t know what will come your way. During my six years as governor of South Carolina, I dealt with a thousand-year flood, damaging hurricanes, a racially driven church shooting, a white police officer who killed an innocent black victim, and a school shooting.

When times were calm, we would try to get ahead of the curve, holding regular meetings with my emergency team to make sure we were up-to-date on supplies, procedures, logistics and technology. We learned the importance of planning and to control what we could.