American Political Leadership - Essay Example

Political Leadership 3323 Words Count: 2,242 The presidency is the hinge point of American governance. The American administration we know today was wrought by the earlier presidents. A study on recent presidents and historical accounts of past presidencies without undue bias offer a lot of invaluable lessons on presidential stewardship. Leadership is a very vital element of all administration and authority, feeble captaincy leads to failure; strong leadership is paramount if one must succeed. An effective principal embraces the present and encompasses the past in their strategic plans of action. Political stewardship is founded on current state of affairs, institutional, cultural and historical background either specific or meticulous. As an occupation, leaders should employ visions that build, propagate or augment national and other political traditions. Fred Greenstein, wrote with grand imminence and ingenuous about the American presidency all the way through logical historical scrutiny. He presents an analytical model for assessing past and future presidents; Greenstein evaluated the personal strong and weak point of the presidents. He presents a terse account of their days and governance, and assesses them in the areas of public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence. Greenstein in his writings does not emphasize on the failures or achievements nor political strategy or public policy of the heads of state but rather carries out an in-depth analysis on their mental prowess and traits and how they impacted on their performance in the oval office. Greenstein avoids ranking presidents in the claim that there is much to be learned from their underperformance as well as their achievement and potency. In his occupation, Greenstein carries out a very critical diagnosis the presidency representing their difference in support to his view that, at any given time, no President was similar in personal strengths and political stewardship. According to Greenstein people of low emotional intelligence should not turn out to be stewards as they are very unlikely to succeed. Through this analysis, he suggests the American people should be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of past presidents and to select future presidents. Fluency in public communication is a key tool in administration; a good speech is prerogative for an effective leader since it enhances his communication and captures a wider audience. President Obama speeches deliver these and more they are outstanding for their exquisite style, he has the ability to transmit rousing deliveries and capture public’s minds eye with his towering oratory. Bush made very many blunders George Bush speech mistakes included: Stuttering, monotone voice, and failure to capture the audience. In his speech Delivered January 15, 2009 at the White House in the East Room His audience included family, friends, Cabinet and some selected Americans he said “Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.” He fails to appreciate the collective and doesn’t recognize the audience. Effective leadership is built on communication prowess. Sound vision is the basic tool for a visionary leader. It’s very evident that Obama has grand strategy program and a far more expansive idea of the presidency in his State of the Union speech, President Obama rolled out a protracted list of plans to elevate the economy, generate jobs and implement his policy agenda. In his inaugural speech he said “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics”. Bush in his farewell speech did not come anywhere closer to Greenstein’s speculations and I quote “As we address these challenges – and others we cannot foresee tonight – America must maintain our moral clarity. I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere”. Emotional strength is the capacity to manage feeling and turn them into beneficial force rather than being conquered by them and consent them to diminish guidance George Bush is ranked highly in these aspect. Before the Sept. 11, 2001 occurrences, basing on his interpretation of his firm emotional strength, Greenstein purported that; Bush will be very triumphant in his tenure in office since he exhibited a strong emotional nerve. Bush was capable of mobilizing public support, capturing Saddam Hussein Passing of the No Child Left Behind education act, attempt to pass immigration reform tax cuts; which helped the economic recovery in 2002. The boom in real estate boosted the economy during the weeks just before and after his re-election, the extension of NATO to the Russian boundary, monetary aid the war against AIDS in Africa, improved relations with India, and getting the world going along with his catastrophic strategies, But President Bush tripped badly in key areas such as terrible domestic policies, foreign-policies and military setbacks, executive misconduct, crises of credibility and public trust. He exhibited weak points frequent among the unsuccessful presidents, unwavering adherence to crude principles that deviates from reality, in the event foiling any sensible amendment to has lowered the presidency to the rank of mere representative and instead has made the Congress has the steering wheel. If Bush were president today, and the liberal health care reform happened to be a top priority on his plan; the reform would have been enacted already. Obama, He has lost his link with many Americans, who’ve switched him off. He has ignited an opinionated reaction. He does not have the emotional strength to govern like a king he looks upon the congress for approval. On organizational capacity Obama views his authority as solely abstract. He told the democrats at Washington to draft the bills and he will do the selling, in the end Obama spent several hours as a stand-in like manner committee chairperson trying to sell the bill to the congress. He responded to Republican questions himself, it seemed like Obama has failed in his bid to take command of Washington. Should his bills pass, Obama would put himself in a rank as an achiever in list of Washington’s powerful personalities having trying very hard to play the messiah. When Bush affirmed "mission accomplished" in Iraq, his disapproval ratings have been running considerably high. More than half the American population now deems Bush as fraudulent and unreliable Considering their political skill Bushs presidency was marred by series of events top of the list: terrorist attacks, Iraq and afghan wars. Bush pushed through Congress a series of major tax cuts. During the catastrophic hurricane Katrina in 2005 his incompetence was highly evident. In 2008 he responded to the widespread financial crisis, with enormous bailouts for banking, insurance and automobiles but the crisis shattered the banking organisms and the country fell into recession, when he left office the economy escalating in downward trend. Bush to a great extent increased domestic expenditure... the dismissals of U.S. Attorneys for political reasons. His proposed "Vision for Space Exploration" went nowhere, and he failed to make headway in Social Security reform. Looking at his speech after eight years in office he said “Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.”….. President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism. America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself. And even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead”. He was optimistic of a future he did not help to build but destroy when he had the chance to make America a great country. Cognitive Style portrays the capacity of the leader to acquire and process information. the approach he employs in gathering his information and advice will shape how he coordinates policy making sessions with his advisory team. In Obama’s presidency, the speaker, and other influential members of the congress are in charge. The assignment of writing bills was left in their hands. All the democrats rally behind him. Bush was capable of mobilizing the public support and get Congress to go along with him even if it meant plundering the national resources hanging Saddam and punishing the Taliban for harboring terrorists. He substantiates this with his closing speech “But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great Nation will never tire … never falter … and never fail”. Both Kennedy and Reagan exemplified best example for visionary leadership they came into office with clear set political goals JFK in one of his deliveries he came out clear that without vision people perish. John Fitzgerald Kennedy initiated the passage of 15 major laws including emergency banking act and glass-steagal banking act and many more. Ronald Reagan promised new direction he reiterated that, “the government is not the solution it’s the problem”. He lobbied for tax cuts and greatly increased on defense funding in 1981 John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Ronald Reagan excelled in the ability to focus on key goals they both believed that lack of vision may doom an administration mission but having a clear sense of direction establishes tone, shapes the policies and marks the presidents’ legacy clearly. FDR and Reagan had the command of the language that when they delivered their speeches they captured their public’s audience with their towering oratory, their inaugural addresses provide excellent examples: Kennedy in his speech he said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and one of his most quoted sentiments “don’t ask what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country”. Reagan stood tall and proclaimed “let there be no misunderstanding it is not my idea to do away with the government, but rather make it work- work with us not over us to stand on our side not to ride on our backs”. Greenstein furnishes John F. Kennedy with a mark of excellence on emotional soundness, claiming Kennedy channeled his passions and managed to "prevent them from confounding his official responsibilities." Yet Greenstein fails to show that Kennedy was reckless in exercising his passions. He portrays Kennedy a successful principal but takes him down on early flaws, in the continuing chapters he accords him a considerable amount tribute for his later development, he doesn’t approve for his overdependence on external brain pool. All in all President Barack Hussein Obama, from a very humble background set out on the campaign trail three years ago to "transform a nation," and he is increasingly doing all he can simply to keep his long-term vision in view amid the more urgent pressures bearing down on him. On the other end George W. Bushs presidency was a disgrace, there seems to be little his administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. Many historians are having endorsed Bush for the slot of the very worst president in all of American history. Obama excels in all attributes and is in fact a political jewel. I also think he should back of his Health Plan until he is re elected, and not having to deal with popularity of first term, issues such as poverty, education, employment are immediately important, and military. References Obama, Barack (2006). The audacity of hope: thoughts on reclaiming the American dream. New York: crown publishing group Official white house biography The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to Barack Obama (Third Edition), Fred I. 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