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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| How to be a good president | How to be a good president |
| (about 19 hours later) | |
| Viewpoint By Jonathan Freedland Barack Obama says the most important quality is vision for the future. No, says John McCain, the key requirement is experience - or at least that's what he said until he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. | Viewpoint By Jonathan Freedland Barack Obama says the most important quality is vision for the future. No, says John McCain, the key requirement is experience - or at least that's what he said until he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. |
| A former film star, Ronald Reagan was an excellent communicator | A former film star, Ronald Reagan was an excellent communicator |
| Both want the most powerful job in the world - but neither they, nor anyone else, can agree on what, precisely, are the qualities needed to serve as president of the United States. | Both want the most powerful job in the world - but neither they, nor anyone else, can agree on what, precisely, are the qualities needed to serve as president of the United States. |
| Indeed, there is not even a job description - only an oath of office demanding the president defend the US constitution. | Indeed, there is not even a job description - only an oath of office demanding the president defend the US constitution. |
| What's more, the job keeps changing, evolving constantly in the 220 years since the presidency was created, a dozen years after the founding of the republic. | |
| Still, an understanding has gradually emerged of the key qualities required of a president. | Still, an understanding has gradually emerged of the key qualities required of a president. |
| The trouble is, they are so many and various, it is almost impossible to imagine any normal human being matching up. | |
| Preacher and protector | Preacher and protector |
| Ever since Theodore Roosevelt described the presidency as a "bully pulpit", Americans have expected first-class rhetorical skills from their leaders. | |
| Mr Obama's camp hopes to capitalise on Bill Clinton's lasting popularity | Mr Obama's camp hopes to capitalise on Bill Clinton's lasting popularity |
| A president must be able to inspire, to preach, to stir the American people to greater things. | A president must be able to inspire, to preach, to stir the American people to greater things. |
| In the modern era, Franklin Roosevelt, John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan all had a great talent for communication; so too did Bill Clinton, though in a different style. | |
| The presidents who have struggled - both George Bushes and Jimmy Carter come to mind - were those who lacked oratorical gifts. | The presidents who have struggled - both George Bushes and Jimmy Carter come to mind - were those who lacked oratorical gifts. |
| But the job requires more than that. Americans look to their president as a protector, someone who will keep the country strong and ward off its enemies. | But the job requires more than that. Americans look to their president as a protector, someone who will keep the country strong and ward off its enemies. |
| Franklin Roosevelt was a great war leader. As the former Allied commander during World War II, Dwight Eisenhower made Americans feel similarly secure. | |
| Rightly or wrongly, Americans still revere Reagan for winning the Cold War. | Rightly or wrongly, Americans still revere Reagan for winning the Cold War. |
| Minimum mendacity | Minimum mendacity |
| Foreign policy acumen is a related and essential element in the presidential kit of parts. | Foreign policy acumen is a related and essential element in the presidential kit of parts. |
| Nixon and John McCain could both claim foreign policy expertise | Nixon and John McCain could both claim foreign policy expertise |
| It's why Mr McCain makes so much of his own experience in international affairs - and why the Obama camp equally emphasises Sarah Palin's lack of a foreign policy record. | It's why Mr McCain makes so much of his own experience in international affairs - and why the Obama camp equally emphasises Sarah Palin's lack of a foreign policy record. |
| The first George Bush's reputation rests on his skilful handling of the post-Cold War world, while his son will have to persuade future historians that he did not make terrible blunders abroad. | The first George Bush's reputation rests on his skilful handling of the post-Cold War world, while his son will have to persuade future historians that he did not make terrible blunders abroad. |
| Yet skill on the world stage is not enough to guarantee the respect of posterity. | Yet skill on the world stage is not enough to guarantee the respect of posterity. |
| Richard Nixon regarded himself as a geo-strategic sage, thanks to his opening to China, but he is still known by a single word: Watergate. | Richard Nixon regarded himself as a geo-strategic sage, thanks to his opening to China, but he is still known by a single word: Watergate. |
| Domestic scandal trumps international accomplishments. Put that down as another lesson for those keen to learn how to be a good president: you need to be, if not saint-like in your honesty, at least not so mendacious that you get tangled up in your own deceptions. | Domestic scandal trumps international accomplishments. Put that down as another lesson for those keen to learn how to be a good president: you need to be, if not saint-like in your honesty, at least not so mendacious that you get tangled up in your own deceptions. |
| It helps if you're someone who can get things done. Lyndon Johnson will forever be saddled with the disaster of the Vietnam war, but he retains respect for passing a canon of social legislation - from civil rights to his war on poverty - that genuinely improved millions of lives. | It helps if you're someone who can get things done. Lyndon Johnson will forever be saddled with the disaster of the Vietnam war, but he retains respect for passing a canon of social legislation - from civil rights to his war on poverty - that genuinely improved millions of lives. |
| Jimmy Carter was seen as a decent but aloof president | Jimmy Carter was seen as a decent but aloof president |
| That was largely down to his mastery of the often arcane ways of the senate, which he had once dominated as majority leader. | That was largely down to his mastery of the often arcane ways of the senate, which he had once dominated as majority leader. |
| That hard-headed, practical ability to get results is often underestimated. | That hard-headed, practical ability to get results is often underestimated. |
| In the words of British journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Johnson "pushed through so much legislation which has changed the way we think about equality, equal rights and human dignity, and I think that is a huge accolade". | In the words of British journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Johnson "pushed through so much legislation which has changed the way we think about equality, equal rights and human dignity, and I think that is a huge accolade". |
| Star quality | Star quality |
| It's good if you're a palpably decent man, as Jimmy Carter was - but less good if that makes you seem lofty, prissy or aloof, as Carter often seemed. | It's good if you're a palpably decent man, as Jimmy Carter was - but less good if that makes you seem lofty, prissy or aloof, as Carter often seemed. |
| It's good if you can keep the country at peace and the economy in rosy health - as Bill Clinton did - but less good if you let that get overshadowed by personal indiscipline, as he did. | It's good if you can keep the country at peace and the economy in rosy health - as Bill Clinton did - but less good if you let that get overshadowed by personal indiscipline, as he did. |
| Finally, in the modern era, the president needs a compelling personal story, great charisma and as much screen presence as a movie star. | Finally, in the modern era, the president needs a compelling personal story, great charisma and as much screen presence as a movie star. |
| As I discovered making President Hollywood, the demands of Washington DC and Tinseltown are remarkably similar. | |
| Which man matches up to this impossible checklist, Barack Obama or John McCain? Well, the American people will decide that on 4 November. | Which man matches up to this impossible checklist, Barack Obama or John McCain? Well, the American people will decide that on 4 November. |
| But they had better get used to one thing right away: the president with every one of these essential qualities simply does not exist. | But they had better get used to one thing right away: the president with every one of these essential qualities simply does not exist. |
| Jonathan Freedland presents part of BBC Four's US Presidents season: | Jonathan Freedland presents part of BBC Four's US Presidents season: |
| How to be a good President, Sun 14 Sept, 2100BSTPresident Hollywood, Mon 15 Sept, 2100BST | How to be a good President, Sun 14 Sept, 2100BSTPresident Hollywood, Mon 15 Sept, 2100BST |