Politics is often complicated and two of the best ways to understand it is through history and timing.
A good example is the long tradition of independence of the Federal Reserve, which has historically been expected to make decisions about the US economy without taking politics into consideration.
But as politics becomes more pervasive in all aspects of government, that's become much harder to do, especially when the memory is still alive of the presidential election of 1992.
Money and finance expert Derek Kinney says it's notable that President Donald Trump has been vying since his most recent election to have some control over Fed decisions, an overt attitude that reflects the covert approaches of previous presidents, who have not been so open about their wishes to influence the Fed.
But Kinney says presidential influence can mar the effect of the Fed's actions.
"That type of mentality doesn't bring independence to the relationship that's supposed to exist between the president and the Federal Reserve," he says.
The Fed is now considering hiking its most closely-watched interest rate because the number of jobs added to the economy as listed in an official report last week was strong.
"In most cases, strong job numbers could lead to rates rising to keep the economy from overheating.
"That's just like the engine that's pushed too hard down the highway, you don't want it overheating at all," he added.
Keeping inflation under control is one of the things considered most important among the Fed's responsibilities, but it can also be understood why a president would want to have some influence on the timing of rate hikes.
In 1992, a recession that caused the Fed to lower interest rates led to some analysts, especially among Republicans, believing that the Fed didn't lower rates fast enough to help bring the economy out of recession before the November election -- and that resulted, they say, in President George H. W. Bush losing to Bill Clinton.
With that in mind it then becomes easier to understand why President Trump wanted his own appointee for Federal Reserve Chairman, and why, as the midterm elections approach, he wants to keep a close eye on the Fed and perhaps even influence it's rate decisions over the next few months.