The Power of the American President to Persuade - Essay Example

The Power of the American President to Persuade It is a fact that the power of the American president is based on persuasion and it is only those presidents who manage to persuade both the American public and its allies that ever have successful administrations. The ability to persuade is one of the most necessary skills that a president needs to ensure that they have both a domestic and foreign policy that is not only efficient but also successful. When the American president appeals directly to the public, especially when he faces a lot of opposition to his policies from Congress, he is normally able to gain some leverage over the latter. This is mainly because if the public is convinced that the president is right, it will give him its full support and the members of Congress will have to follow suit because to do otherwise would mean that quite a number of them might lose their seats during elections. The American president has to be eloquent in his speeches so that he can be able not only to persuade his audience but also to pass his point through to those individuals who are against him that his is the right course and they have to support him. Over the past fifteen years, this has been the case among the men who have had the privilege of being the leaders of the most powerful nation in the world. These presidents, namely Clinton, Bush, and currently Obama, have all had to work hard to persuade the American public as well as the American allies that their intentions and actions have been in the latter’s interest. One of the most fascinating episodes where an American president was forced to be persuasive in order to save his presidency was that of President Clinton during his threatened impeachment over the Lewinsky Scandal. Bill Clinton can be considered to have been one of the most popular presidents in modern American history and it is not just because of his charisma, but also because he was also able to connect with many of the baby boomer generation, to which he belonged. This was a period where the American presidency was mired in a scandal which almost brought down the president and it is mainly because of the ability of Clinton to persuade his audience that his actions did not in any way jeopardize his presidency that he managed to remain in office for the remainder of his term (Storey 2010, p.305). When the Lewinski scandal first came to the attention of the media, it generated a lot of shock in the public and the most conservative members of the Republican Party saw it as an opportunity to remove a president from a rival party. However, President Clinton took the situation in hand and because of his show of remorse as well as his attempt to make the public believe that he was indeed just a man who was fallible, he was able to ensure that his impeachment did not go through. Instead, his administration came out of the scandal stronger than ever and with the full support of the majority of American people who still believed in him. The 9/11 attacks on the United States were among the worst events to have ever taken place in recent American history. It was so bad because it took both the president and the entire security apparatus of the nation by complete surprise to the extent that they could barely give a comprehensive explanation of why they had taken place under their watch. The fact that most of the American public ended up, for a few days at least, living in absolute horror is one of the reasons that the then president, George Bush, had to step in and ensure that the public was not only calmed down but also given hope (Valelly 2013, p.63). This was a period when the American populace lived in uncertainty because with the terror attacks taking place, they were forced into the reality that their nation was not as secure as they had thought and that it was vulnerable since a terror attack could take place anywhere within American territory. The result of the abrupt loss of life especially in the Twin Towers led to a situation where the American people looked toward their government in anger because it was the government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans were kept safe. When evidence was revealed to the public that the security agencies had been aware of the terror threat and that they had informed government officials, who had not taken any action, they were outraged. In order to prevent the eruption of public dissatisfaction, President Bush sought to persuade the Americans that it was their responsibility to go after al Qaeda and destroy it (Storey 2010, p.374). It is because of this that the war on terror was launched through the invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban, who had hosted al Qaeda within its jurisdiction. This persuasive move by President Bush gave Americans the hope that they would prevail in all the circumstances that they faced, ensuring that that there was also a rise in American nationalism in support of the war on terror. The war in Iraq has been considered to be among the most controversial moves that were made by President Bush and this is mainly because of the fact that the war was not decisively won. The main reason why Bush chose to go to war in Iraq was mainly intelligence reports, which stated that its leader, Saddam Hussein, had developed weapons of mass destruction, and that it was possible that he would end up using these weapons against the United States. In addition, it was believed that Hussein was also one of the sponsors of al Qaeda and that because of this, he was partly responsible for the 9/11 attacks against the United States (McKeever & Davies 2012, p.123). This argument by the president as well as other officials from his administration ensured that the American public was convinced of the necessity to invade Iraq. The fact that the war took place, and many Americans lost their lives, with little evidence being found of the claimed weapons of mass destruction as well as Hussein’s support of al Qaeda, might have worked towards demoralizing American confidence in their government. However, this did not happen because when the president realized that his decision to invade another country had been a blunder, he swiftly shifted his stance concerning the war, stating that the war had been fought for the sake of freeing the Iraqis from the rule of a tyrant (Norris & Shenai, 2010). The American defeat of Iraqi forces was repackaged as the beginning of a new and democratic life for the people of Iraq, who would finally be able to participate in the functions of their own government. This was among the most persuasive moves made by an American president because not only was he able to bring down the government of an individual who was against American interests in the region, but the president was able to turn around what would have potentially been a huge embarrassment in the international scene, into a victory (Hastedt, 2009). Thus, the Americans ended up believing that their armed forces were doing something about bringing terrorism to an end while at the same time ensuring that all of their attention was on the war, and not on the deficiencies in internal security which had led to the 9/11 attacks taking place. The Patriot Act is one of the most controversial laws that have been passed by the United States Congress and this is mainly because it suspends some of the basic freedoms of those individuals who are suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. Before the 9/11 attacks, the passage of such a law would have been unthinkable but the fact that it was indeed passed is a testimony of the persuasiveness of the Bush administration (Dye & Zeigler 2012, p.98). The passage of this law was done in such a swift manner that some of its most controversial passages were passed without any serious consultations concerning their future repercussions. The idea behind the law was to ensure that the government was given the ability to protect American citizens without the use of the normal procedures that had been set down. This law had the full support of the government as well as the Republican-dominated Congress and because the American public was also convinced, it passed swiftly into law, ensuring that the way of American life would change forever (Valelly 2013, p.87). The Bush administration took advantage of the public feeling that it was under siege to pass this law, which gives the security agencies of the nation unprecedented power over the lives of many Americans. The fact that the government adopted the Patriot Act provided it with the means of ensuring that no terror attacks on the scale of the 9/11 attacks ever took place on American soil again. Thus, the government was able to expand its security operations to the rest of the world where it was able to capture those individuals who were suspected to be terrorists and detain them in the infamous Guantanamo Bay facility. The power of the American president is to persuade and this has been seen recently through the efforts by President Obama to enable the passage and implementation of the medical insurance system that has come to be known as Obamacare. The ability of the president to persuade Congress as well as fellow Americans of the need for universal health insurance has been one of the hallmarks of the Obama presidency and it is yet to be seen whether his efforts will bear fruit (McKeever & Davies 2012, p.250). Which is had the full backing of the Democratic representatives when this party was dominant in Congress; this law has become controversial with the achievement of Republican dominance. Because of the efforts of the latter, the Obamacare law has become watered down to a shadow of itself and it is because of Republican pressure that it has largely not been a success. It is yet to be seen how the president is going to handle the situation so that he can steer the country’s healthcare system in the direction he would like it to go. The persuasive power of the American president is the main reason why the United States is not only the dominant power in the world, but also the reason for its retention of the allies it has had since the end of World War Two. This power is the reason for the way the world order as it currently is has been shaped and its influence is likely to continue for many years to come. References Dye, T.R. & Zeigler, H. (2012). The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics. Stamford: Wadsworth. Hastedt, G. (2009). American power and the prospects for international Order/Managing American hegemony: Essays on power in a time of dominance. Political Science Quarterly, 124(3), 554-556. McKeever, R. & Davies P. (2012) Politics USA. New York: Pearson. Norris, T., & Shenai, N. K. (2010). Dynamic balances: American power in the age of innovation. The SAIS Review of International Affairs, 30(2), 149-164. Storey, W. (2010). US Government and Politics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Valelly, R. (2013). American Politics: A Very Short Introduction. London: Oxford University Press. Read More