Style of Presidential Leadership

Increased Responsibility When the Constitution was written, the Founding Fathers anticipated that the Congress would be most powerful The role of the POTUS was viewed as Chief Administrator and in times of war Commander in Chief Today, the president’s main role is leadership Polls consistently show that Americans look to the POTUS to exercise strong leadership, keep the peace, and solve economic and social problems

Leadership Qualities and Skills Understanding the Public Most successful presidents have a genuine feel for the hopes, fears, and moods of the nation Understanding the people is necessary to gain and hold support Public support can give a president real leverage in influencing lawmakers Failure to understand the people can cost an election (i.e. Hoover in 1932)

Leadership Qualities and Skills Ability to Communicate Communication with the public is important for support of ideas Carter had troubles dealing with the press and in turn had a hard time gaining public support for his policies Reagan was a very effective communicator and was able to sell his ideas to the public

Leadership Qualities and Skills Sense of Timing The POTUS must know when the time is right to introduce a new policy or make a key decision Delaying policy or decisions may be the best decision in some cases H.W. Bush believed that economic aid was the best course of action for the Soviet Union to promote democracy, he delayed payment of aid until nations broke free of the Soviet Union Successful presidents have used their cabinet secretaries to test ideas

Leadership Qualities and Skills Openness to New Ideas Good leadership requires the capacity to be flexible Some presidents have used informal debate among their staff to hear different sides of issues Situations have the ability to change rapidly and the POTUS must modify and adjust course of action to deal accordingly

Leadership Qualities and Skills Ability to Compromise The nature of politics is such that the president must often be willing to give up something in order to get something in return Successful presidents are able to recognize that they sometimes have to settle for legislation by Congress that provides only part of what they want Presidents who do not compromise may be risking getting nothing accomplished

Leadership Qualities and Skills Political Courage Sometimes presidents must go against public opinion in taking actions they believe are vital to the nation’s well-being Lincoln’s insistence on maintaining the unpopular war instead of settling for the more popular idea of coming to a negotiated peace with the South ultimately resulted in a Union victory. Lincoln stayed the course of war even though he believed that it would cost him the 1864 election

Presidential Isolation Special Treatment Presidents are in an atmosphere where it is easy to see themselves as deserving only praise and to consider their ideas as above criticism Voicing Opinions Presidents often discourage staff members from disagreeing with them or giving them unpleasant advice Many staffers are in awe of the office of the president and tend not to speak up against the POTUS

Presidential Isolation Access to the President There is limited access to the president for security purposes With limited access comes limited ability to offer differing opinions Dangers of Isolation Only top officials are able to share ideas with the POTUS The lack of challenges to the POTUS can lead to poor policy decisions Furthered by the POTUS filling top roles with “Yes Men”