Presidents

What are the qualities of a great President?  Can they be discovered in the current state primary system?  One of these questions is almost impossible to answer and the other in my opinion is, unfortunately, easy.

If we look into our history I think the great Presidents make up about 10 percent of the total.  I know this is just a superficial exercise and true historians would take issue with the obvious choices I make, but this is after all just a simple blog.  Just to note, for the military schools 10% equals distinguished graduate status so that is about right in my mind.  If I were doing the grading, my list would be George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, maybe Franklin Roosevelt, and maybe Ronald Reagan, each for dramatically different reasons.  There are two maybe’s on the list and I will explain why when I get to them.

George Washington, father of our nation, the first President, elected through popular consensus and with no party affiliation.  Why great?  He took opposing views and melded them into a unifying approach.  He was able to get the most from his advisors, and the cabinet.  He listened to Alexander Hamilton (a war time aide) and moved to solidify the solvency of the nation and create the monetary system we have today.  He had no precedent to work from, and he turned down being the King, setting the standard for those that were to follow.  He realized when it was time to head home to Martha and his stills.

Thomas Jefferson, an advocate for a weak central government, yet when elected President he expanded the power of the Presidency well beyond what John Adams had done.  Why great? When it came time to make the hard call about buying the western territory from the French he was not constrained by what others recommended, but made the choice he felt right for the nation.  Without that decision, are we still the United States?

Obviously Abraham Lincoln makes the list for his dogged determination not to let the great experiment called the United States come to an end when the Southern states tried to pick up their marbles and go home.  In spite of an incredibly poor set of Generals and friction in his own cabinet he made some hard choices that kept the union together despite three and a half years of losing efforts.

Now to the maybe great presidential choices, as a native New Yorker, born and raised in Hyde Park all my educational experiences reinforced the greatness of Franklin D. Roosevelt and how he saved the nation in the great depression.  The older I get the less convinced I remain that he truly led the country out of the depression, instead his policies extended the suffering, but many of the infrastructures his administration built, like the Tennessee Valley Authority serve this nation today. But then he chose to remain in power despite the long-standing tradition of only serving two terms.  Through out his terms his popularity and connection with the nation was and remains unmatched by any of his peers.

Finally, Ronald Reagan.  He was swept into office after four failed years of the Carter administration where interest rates on loans were in the teens, inflation was in the teens, unemployment was at 9+% and we had 54 Americans held hostage by Iran.  In the course of his two terms he ended the cold war, restored America’s position in the world, and the economy returned to with the lowering of the interest and the unemployment rates.  Yet he increased the political divide between the two parties, and greatly expanded the size of government, despite promises to do otherwise.  I think the book is still out on Mr. Reagan, but I think overall he will be recognized as one of our better Presidents.

So, what qualities to they share?  First and foremost it is an optimistic vision for the future of our Nation.  Next they have the courage to standby their convictions despite severe opposition, and they reacted well to the conditions presented to them.  To measure their greatness, they left the nation better off than they found it.  Are these the qualities that make great Presidents?  I don’t think that can be assumed.  Each President will enter into his/her term with conditions and challenges unique to that period of history.  Each will attempt to bend the nation in the direction they see for the future.  It is in that bending and forging their true character will come out and only then will the most important qualities be manifest.  Some will rise to the challenge, some will survive, and some will fail miserably.

How does today’s primary system help us understand the human qualities of the candidate?