Who will be ready for the presidency on Day One? Who is best qualified to be commander in chief? Who is tough enough, charismatic enough and competent enough to do the job?
These are all important questions, of course, but they ignore a crucial element of presidential leadership — the ability to educate the public about the preeminent issues of the day.
Our greatest presidents, in the judgment of historians and in popular memory — including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt — would never have succeeded as commanders in chief had they not first succeeded as teachers in chief. And two of the most conspicuous presidential failures in recent history — Bill Clinton’s healthcare reform plan and George W. Bush’s open-ended war in Iraq — can be traced, in part, to the inability or unwillingness of both men to educate the public about complex, long-term issues.
This story is directed at the presidential elections but is certainly applicable to Rowan Williams. Poor Mr. Williams has no inkling how to talk to the guy in the streets.
This Susan Jacoby is a good read as she is a Modern Liberal critical of the Modern Liberal system.
Her point is a very important one and a good one to ponder and teach to our own children and anyone else that might listen.
I do not, however, see FDR as a good teacher. He and his brain trust were excellent propagandists. Though some today do not discriminate between teaching and propagandizing, I do.
Don
The electronic information age has, within democratic republics such as the USA, added to the meaning of “competency” with respect to legislating and governing. A nation of voters will only allow law-makers and policy-makers to lead who communicate clearly and persuasively upon a record of proven integrity in genuine public service.
Leaving aside the fact that the implosion of Clinton’s proposed Stalinization of the nation’s health care system was a positive benefit to America, I tend to agree with Ms. Jacoby. Bill Clinton’s biggest failure was not, in retrospect, the health care issue, but his failure to alert us to the depth and breadth of Islamic terror that was building.
#4, How very very true.
Excuse me, a reply to #4.
Reply to #5. who said
“… but his failure to alert us to the depth and breadth of Islamic terror that was building.”
Which may explain why a certain former national security advisor went about a ‘Keystone Kops/Three Stooges’ effort to gain access to the National Archives and destroy certain, possibly presidentially annotated, presidential documents.
while i disagreed with many of his policies, i always admired Ronald Reagan as a communicator & a teacher. Both Clinton & Bush have suffered in contrast – they often seem like they are bending facts to fit their case and demonizing those that disagree with their POV
one of the many things that gives me hope about Barack Obama is how he is running his campaign, seeking to educate & re-connect people with a sense of trust & respect for the government that is us