| President Clinton was really popular, but was he presidential? After all his private life did spill into and affect his term as president. Sure it had a lot of help from the Republicans and their witch hunt that eventually got him to a position where he lied about sex. And lets face it there were a lot of things that President Clinton did that are still problems today. We have finally defeated DADT, but DOMA is still out there making gay citizens lives hard. President Clinton will tell you that he signed those bills because the alternative would have been much worse. If that is the case (and I am sure there will be arguments about it) then is that presidential leadership? Does it make you presidential if you limit the amount of damage that might be done?
The first President Bush ran on a platform of "no new taxes". He then, because of the need to fund the nation, and like his predecessor President Regan, in fact raised taxes to try to keep the debt in some kind of control. It was a factor that combined with Ross Perot's third party candidacy cost him re-election.
All of the above presidents were at one time or another involved in long term military action or all out war. All of them had people in the other party who were ready to denigrate them and mock them. There will always be those rabid partisans who will deny that the other party can produce a presidential President no mater what.
Which kind of brings us back to the beginning; what are the characteristics that add up to "presidential" ? To me there are a few that come to mind;
Calm;
It is important that a woman or man who leads a huge nation like ours not be seen to loose their cool. It might be a façade, they might have a room full of pillows to kick or some such but at least in public there should be a veneer of control.
Steadfast;
This is a thin slice off of strong, I'll admit, but I think the distinction is important. Being obdurate is not a good quality to me. It is important to have policy positions that you advocate for and are not willing to give on easily, but being unwilling to bend at all causes more problems than it solves. So being constant on where one wants to go with policy and the nation is a plus, but only if it is tempered with the willingness to get what you can now, and then keep working to get more.
Intellectually Curious;
I think this is critical. When we look to history at the presidents that are generally considered to be great there is a thread that run through them all. Jefferson, Lincoln, TR, Kennedy, they all had an interest in the world around them beyond politics or business. They were not just educated they were learners their whole lives. In a job that requires input on such a vast array of issues having a president who not only can think but wants to think and learn is the difference between a leader and a politician.
Invested In The Whole Nation;
While it leads to more compromise than most of us would like, I think that it is a presidential quality to be looking not just to ones own constituency but to the good of the nation as a whole, at all times. It makes for a very uneasy balancing act, but we are talking about the highest office in the land and there should be someone whose primary job responsibility it to the whole not just the parts that elected them.
Excellent Oratory Skills;
It might seem like a small thing, but really being able to talk many groups and communicate and, I'm not ashamed to say it, inspire them to ones point of view is something that makes or breaks a president. Neither of the Presidents Bush were particularly good at oratory. They had the advantage of being part of a party trained to dog whistles in speeches and as long as they hit those points in front of friendly crowds they would be okay.
A Willingness To Go Against Popular Opinion;
This one is tricky. It is only really a plus when the popular opinion is wrong and the actions of the president show it to be so in the light of history. It is also one that should be considered a bit of a fault as well. After all if a president believes in the absolute rectitude of their position then we can be driven off the cliff as a nation.
A Dash Of Humility;
I think that this is probably the hardest attribute to find in a president. After all stepping up and saying "I think I know best how to run the United States" takes some serious self confidence. Even if that were not enough, the actual process of running for office requires a strong belief in oneself, since part of the process is being attacked form many angles and criticized on a daily basis.
Still it is a quality that should be in all presidents. There has to be some modicum of self doubt, that questioning of actions and motivations and decisions. There has to be space for a president to say "That was a mistake". Yes the job is so important that we would not like to hear it all the time, and would vote out a president who said it on a regular basis, but presidents are only human and we all make mistakes from time to time. The person who has stopped making mistakes has stopped learning.
So, there are my qualities for what would make a Presidential president. What are yours? Is policy the only thing that matters to you or are there qualities you could like and admire while still saying that they are wrong on the issues?
The floor is yours. |
