Campaign 2008 ~ Presidential Leadership, Part One

When my sister Pam and brother-in-law Ron visited us in May, we took a trip to Virginia to see some of the Civil War battle sites. After deciding to keep going north to Fredericksburg we discovered that neither one of them had ever been to Washington, D.C. That decided it for us… we would drive into Washington the next day to see all the monuments surrounding the Mall.

After viewing the Washington Monument we walked to the Jefferson, FDR and Lincoln Memorials. As we took refuge from the rain to read most of the inscribed words present at each of these monuments, I came away inspired by both the depth of thought and eloquence of their words. Most of all I came away feeling that Americans do not now have this level, with few exceptions, of inspiring leadership. Have we lost the great orators of the past forever… lost to television sound bites or staged town hall meetings with selected audiences?

After reading Lincoln's Gettysburg and Second Inaugural addresses I began to think about two things:

1. What are the leadership and character traits we need in the 2008 Democratic and Republican candidates?

2. What leadership qualities do we see in the two nominees Barak Obama and John McCain?

Recent polls show George Bush's approval rating hovering around 25%… an all-time low for any President. Congress has an even lower rating of 18%. Clearly the American people are not pleased with the direction of the country or our leaders.

We have endured an executive branch that at every turn attempted to exceed its constitutionally granted rights, a Congress that could not seem to accomplish anything and nearly abdicated its right to rule by legislative lawmaking. Add the international loss of respect for America due to unilateral actions, unwillingness to cooperate at multiple worldwide conferences (environmental, world trade conferences) and the disdain shown for the United Nations. It seems as if America is a long way from John Wintrop's "The Shining City upon a Hill" voiced so eloquently by Ronald Reagan. We the people need to get back into the driver's seat.

As Ronald Reagan stated "Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: "We the people." "We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight years."

        Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address,
        Oval Office, January 11, 1989

A list of presidential leadership and character traits I believe are important:

1. Must have a strong work ethic. Active involvement in running the administration every day. I want a reader and a writer who can absorb large amounts of information, come to his own conclusions and clearly elucidate them verbally and in writing. I don't want a leader who is my buddy.

2. A leader who knows world history, the failures of past civilizations and a sound knowledge of the rest of the world's leaders and their circumstances - those countries with democracies as well as the dictators and tyrants. In short someone who knows the difference between Shia and Sunni; Pashtun and Tajik.

3. A person who arduously seeks the truth and is not afraid to change course when necessary. I want a leader who is honest, can admit mistakes and take full responsibility for them.

4. An engaged and participative leader who selects excellent cabinet members (from either party or an independent) and holds them responsible for their portfolios. He is a good listener and decisive after ascertaining the facts. Good decisions do not come from being surrounded by "yes" men/women.

5. A leader who recognizes that he, and everyone in his administration, is subject to the same laws as We the people.

6. Must respect the constitutional balance of powers between executive, legislative and judicial branches that our founding fathers wisely incorporated.

7. An eloquent leader who can, through his spoken and written words, inspire all Americans to come together to meet the tremendous challenges now facing us. No more Red and Blue States. We the people are in desperate need of a leader capable of uniting us for the common good.

8.Someone who knows economics - micro and macro. A leader who can use the budget process with Congress, fiscal policies and the bully pulpit to stop deficit spending, prioritize and maximize all government spending for the benefit of We the People.

Please email your leadership and character traits to Greg at gpetty@boomnc.com

Please pick up next month's Boom! and read Part Two - Presidential Leadership. Given these leadership and character traits which of these qualities do we see in McCain and Obama? How might they exercise them while in office?