The President: A Merchant of Hope

In one month Americans will go to the polls to elect a Leader.  What qualifies a leader to be our leader is not to the people’s advantage.  Yes, we elect them based on what we have to work with.  Our political parties choose for us who we can elect from based on political power. However, that is our system and for the most part it works.

Today’s blog is not meant to gripe or complain about our political system.  Today’s writing is to remind all of us of one primary role of the chief leader of our land - to be a merchant of hope. In a crisis it is imperative that a leader lead themselves first and inspire a nation to rally around a looming fear or realized weakness. Sadly, I do not see our current commander in chief exhibiting this fundamental trait.  There may be many reasons of which I am not privy to.  Still, the people need a leader to inspire hope, to give peace or a call to sacrifice for a period of time.

Here are some past examples of weakness in the Presidential role.  This is not meant to be a form of malice, but rather of perspective.

• Herbert Hoover: Elected in 1928, Herbert Hoover took over a vibrant economy with signs of cracks in the financial fabric.  One year later would start the great depression.  Hoover was a progressive - innovative on creating technical solutions and systems in a growing society.  Yet he lacked charisma and did not work well with Congress. Because of this he painted himself into a corner with the people and with the leaders of the country.  The country needed a charismatic FDR to pull the country back from the depths and bring hope for a brighter future.
• Jimmy Carter: When Carter’s name is mentioned it most likely triggers thoughts like the Iranian hostage situation, inflation or fuel shortages.  While that is not fair to be labeled for only negatives, this president’s style of communication did not help our perceptions.  Most of President’s Carter legacy has been his involvement overseas after his lackluster presidency.  It is interesting to note that Carter had similar issues as Hoover.  He was very dull with the media and general public and did not trust congress, especially his own party.  Tip O’Neal said on several occasions that “President Carter just doesn’t understand how our system works.”  President Carter could not rally his people.
• George Bush: History will tell us truly how significant President Bush’s role was in our world. I will not try to predict this at this point. However, I will share my disappointment in a style of leadership. This is a difficult season in America’s history. We need a leader who gives us reason to hope or someone to lead us to sacrifice to right this country we all love. I have watched President Bush continue the same partisan bickering that plagues our country.  Over the past few weeks Bush has had the opportunity to inspire hope. Yet with approval ratings in the 20’s it is hard to inspire anyone.  Nonetheless, it was his opportunity to go out with a strong principled leadership message of hope.  At least set the next guy up for success. Instead we heard if we don’t sign a bailout we are doomed.  That is not presidential, that was political.

There have been some excellent examples of hope-filled leadership. While every leader in our political landscape must deal with negatives internally and externally it is the way that they deal with them and communicate with the people that makes a leader effective in our culture. Whether you agree with their politics is one thing. This is a list of hope givers and leaders needed at specific times.

• Abraham Lincoln: Deeply opposed by both sides, Lincoln utilized positive rhetoric and public opinion to lead the country through deep division and set it up well for healing.
• Teddy Roosevelt: This eccentric president was one of the most popular president’s of all time primarily because of his larger than life actions and hero evoking speeches.  Teddy was very productive and led the nation out of the civil war era into the new hope of modernization.
• Ronald Reagan: President Reagan stepped in after Carter and produced a hope of a new future. Reagan’s legacy continues to be strong though he suffered through a rough first term and contentious second term. Reagan was a hope giver. He successfully maneuvered our country through the cold war and set the tone for the healthy economy we experienced in the 90’s. Most of all we responded to his hope and charisma. We knew we had a leader.

My hope is that one of our current candidates will surprise us. We must give whomever it is a chance to succeed. I simply pray that they learn from the mistakes of past presidents and reclaim the role of Merchant of Hope in this next season.

Posted on October 07, 2008 in Historical Leaders