Presidential Timber Counts:Why We Should Want a Lincoln More than a HardingKenneth Hacker, September 17, 2008
Contrary to some popular discourse about presidential leadership being too slippery to anchor to personal traits, I belief that some key personal traits will help predict who will become a better (not perfect) president among certain choices. These personal characteristics are not innate; they are cultivated over many years in a potential president's life. I derive these traits from three sources: presidential history, leadership studies, and the formal needs of the office of the presidency.
History: Garfield was OK, Harding Was Terrible, and Lincoln Was Great
"Controlling" for political party, I examine three Republican presidents to illustrate what makes some leaders at this level better than others. Garfield was assassinated so is unrated by some historians on numerical scales, while Harding comes out the worst and Lincoln comes out the best on at least one historical ranking account.
James Garfield was the 20th President. He was considered handsome and physically fit, suffering from minor body aches, depression, and some indigestion problems. He was known as a good and persuasive public speaker. He excelled in his education and became a debating champion and then a teacher. After teaching, he went into law. He had one known extramarital affair which his wife called "lawless passion." He served in the Civil War and rose to the rank of general. In the military he was known for his abilities to study strategies and to inspire his soldiers. He served in the U.S. Congress and also as a state senator in Ohio. Shorly after being elected president, he discovered a post office scandal involving his own party, yet ordered that an investigation begin no matter who was found guilty. He was known for strong positions on issues such as his opposition to the spoils system. Garfield was shot by an assassin named Charles Guiteau who said that God told him to shoot Garfield (1881). He was known as a strong and intelligent man who had trouble with being firm and resolute in dealing with conflicts among factions and people in government. Like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Garfield was fond of mathematics. In fact, he created a math proof officially known as Garfield's Tapezoidal Proof (1876). This is a published proof.
Warren G. Harding was the 29th President fo the United States. He was known for his good looks, stylish clothes, and pleasing voice. He had poor health including a nervous breakdown and stomach problems. He was obsessed with the rumor that his ancestors may have included some African American genetic influence and used racism to fight racism as he countered the charges by a white supremacist professor (William Chancellor of Wooster College) with claims that the "finest pioneer blood" and came from good blue-eyed stock. He had one known child out of wedlock and no children by marriage. Although claiming to be religious and that God guided his actions, Harding used the White House for poker games, heavy drinking, and having sexual relations with one the women he engaged in extramartial affairs. He had no military experience, tried law school and quit, became an insurance salesman, and then ran a newspaper. While serving as a state senator, lieutenant governor of Ohio and than as as United States Senator, his political actions were marked by bigotry (allowing those supporting him to attack Catholics), missing numerous votes, being uncommitted on major issues, and being aloof on many controversites. The Harding administration was stained with numerous scandals such as the Tea Pot Dome scandal in which is Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall sold national oil reseves for his own personal profit. Fall spent 9 months in prison. A fellow Republican Herbert Hoover said of Harding that he was not intelligent nor experienced enough to be president. Harding had too much faith in his appointees and they let him down with the scandals.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. He was the tallest of the presidents, was considered rather homely in looks, and has health problems including depression and heart disease. He was known as a careless dresser. He was known as being plain spoken and good at showing interest in people's problems. Lincoln walked four miles each way to attend school when he was a child. He had begun his own ferry business at age 18. While having only one year of formal education he read as much as he could on his own and became fond of reading and reciting entire passages from authors like Shakespeare. He volunteered for military serviced and achieved the rank of captain. However, his entire military term was only 3 months and he never experienced combat. Lincoln taught himself law and developed an apprecation for math as he learned that lawyers have to demonstrate truths. He went through Euclid and appleid the strategies of proofs to legal argumentations. Lincoln entered Illinois politics at the age of 23. He served as a postmaster, a state representative, a representative to the U.S. Congress from Ilinois, He took strong positions on the issues of U.S. involvement in the Mexican War (opposed), abolishing slave trade, and keeping the states united. His accomplishements include holding the union together through winning the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the slaves in America. Lincoln allowed his Cabinet members to bicker over issues but he read and listened carefully, then announced his decisions made with careful deliberation. Despite some of his personal problems, Lincoln was known for his intelligence and honesty.
Leadership Studies
Leadership studies that leaders in various contexts have certain necessary and desirable characteristics. These are not about personal strengths such as honesty alone, but also about skills in dealing with people such as motivating others to do well with their strengths.
Weaknesses in leaders prevent them from being good at positions such as executive leadership. These inlcude being unifomed, being too rigid, communicating in overly authoritarian manners.
Some research indicates that leaders have good social skills, good technical skills, good administrative abilities, friendliness, abilities to motivate people, supportiveness, and emotional balance. It is crucial to recognize that none of the leadership characteristics described here are static. Good leaders know how to monitor, analyze, and adjust in flexible ways to changing circumstances.
Presidential leadership is not one-size-fits-all material. Presidential timber is the basic foundation upon which other more situational factors must be added but without which we may get in trouble.
The Formal Needs for a Presidency
Upon recognizing the duties of a President, the leadership skills necessary become readily apparent.
Presidents must be able to function as commanders-in-chief, as initiators and negotiators of both domestic and foreign policies, as spokespersons for United States foreign relations goals and policies, as chief exectives, and as symbolic leaders of the most powerful nation on the planet. Clearly, these roles require leadership skills of clear and persuasive communication, diplomacy, international transactions, economic analysis, and rhetorical adaptation.
A strong and effective President must be able to generate a national vision and sense of direction for the nation, to help set national priorities for legislation, to help with crisis management, and to help maintain unity and stability in the overall political system.
Presidential Timber
From the above discussion, I conclude that the necessary but not sufficient conditions, what I call presidential timber, for an effective President are as follows:
- intelligence and continued self-education with an appreciation of complexity.
- conflict management skills.
- assertiveness with abilities to encourage differing viewpoints.
- decision-making abilities in the face of conflict and pressures.
- getting involved with controversies and taking reasoned positions.
- flexibility and adaptability
- good communication, persuasion, and motivation skills.
- negotiation, diplomacy, and transaction abilities.
- good character including honesty, morality, and caring.
While it is arguable that presidential timber cannot be rigidly defined or defined hardly at all, I argue that it can be defined with the qualified that this timber is not easy to pin down, but can be seen in the contrasts between effective and ineffective presidents. Single characteristics are not presidential timber. Clusters of good traits do seem to constitue it when they are most relevant to the office. Being locked in powerlessness by situations or circimstances does not justify a lack of timber or explain it away. Thus, a president cannot simply blame Congress for being ineffective. A good President will know how to work with Congress to move his agenda forward. And sometimes a good president will steadfastly resist pressures and temptations.
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." --- Abe Lincoln
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