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Traits of a good president
Traits of a good president
Traits of a good president
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The president of the United States is mostly known as one of the most important positions in the entire country. The president is the leader of the nation, the person that people look up to and depend on to take care of the nations needs, and also the person who gets blamed when situations turn for the worse. Each of the presidents have their own character and personality. Some say that the presidents performance in office is shaped by their personality. James David Barber, a political scientist and author of The Presidential Character, is one of these people and broke down personality into three major parts; character, style, and worldview. According to Barber, a president's performance depends on the president's personality: character, world view, and style. The style is how the president acts towards situations. His world view refers to his beliefs about present politics and conflicts, world view affects what the president focuses on, and is basically his way of seeing things. Out of the three, Barber calls us to pay particular attention to character. Barber believes that character is the base of personality, and also the hardest to recognize. One important part of character involves whether a president is active or passive for example whether he is full of energy or inactive. The second concerns whether a person is positive or negative, meaning how he feels about his job as a president, his life, and his self image. These two dimensions create the four basic characters; active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive, and passive-negative. Depending on which of the four presidential characters the president falls into shape their performance in office. His personality is what drives him to pay attention to certain problem... ... middle of paper ... ...ended quickly in just two months, and achieving the largest military action since the Vietnam War without suffering high casualties. However despite his militaristic success, domestic problems were his downfall which led him not to be re-elected as president. From the Reagan yeas, the economy was in already in bad shape and President Bush faced much heated criticism in his approach when he betrayed the Republicans when he created new taxes. He tried to help the economy but only emphasized vague principles. Bush was unable to handle the criticism and anger from the people because of the bad economy and high deficit spending. From the evidence, President George Herbert Walker Bush can be labelled as a borderline active-positive/passive-negative personality, coming strong when it does to environmental and foreign affairs, but faltering when it came to domestic issues.
Out of the 43 presidents that have served for the United States, the most recognizable and exceptional president by far was Abraham Lincoln. Through childhood, Lincoln seemed always interested in politics, not knowing how much publicity and significance he would get. The three authors of the Grace Bedell and the President’s Beard, Lincoln’s Famous Address, and The Rise of a President all agree with the fact that Lincoln was a fanonimal president. During just four years of office, Lincoln made a memorable picture for himself, led a war between many different parts of the U. S., and made one of the greatest speeches the nation has ever seen.
Roosevelt chose this kind of a presidency model, I can say that the situation of his time dragged him to do it so. I can classify him as an active-positive president according to "The Psychological Presidency," by Michael Nelson (POLS510
Skowornek writes, “these presidents each set out to retrieve from a far distant, even mythic, past fundamental values that they claim had been lost in the indulgences of the received order, In this way, the order-shattering and order-affirming impulses of the presidency in politics became mutually reinforcing.” (Skowornek, 37, book). These presidents are in the best position not because they are exceptional at their job but because the time they came into office offered them the elasticity and authority to make new orders and be welcomed by the public because he is taking the country out of its troubles and challenges.
Of the most powerful people in the world, the President of the United States of America hits the top of the list. Even though the policy agendas that presidents set as they take office often go unfulfilled, the office of President is still one of the most envied spots to have. But why could this be? It is because the United States is the most powerful nation in the world and with the President as the leader, he is said to have the most power in the world ("Top Ten Most Powerful Countries in the World"). With power comes responsibility and with this position he must govern a country while abiding by the rules.
The president has a significant amount of power; however, this power is not unlimited, as it is kept in check by both the judicial and legislative branches. The president is held responsible for passing legislation that will improve the lives of everyday Americans, even though he shares his legislative powers with Congress. The sharing of power acts as an impediment to the president’s ability to pass legislation quickly and in the form it was originally conceived. However, Americans do not take this into account when judging a president, as they fully expect him to fulfill all of the promises he makes during his campaign. By making promises to pass monumental legislation once elected without mentioning that Congress stands as an obstacle that must be hurdled first, the president creates unrealistic expectations of what he can fulfill during his time in office (Jenkins-Smith, Silva, and Waterman, 2005). A president is expected to have the characteristics that will allow him to efficiently and effectively lead the nation and to accomplish the goals he set during his campaign (Jenkins-Smith et al., 2005). There have been a handful of presidents that have been immortalized as the ideal person to lead the United States and if a president does not live up to these lofty expectations the American public will inevitably be disappointed. Since every president is expected to accomplish great things during his presidency, he is forced to created and project a favorable image through unrealistic promises. The combination of preconceived ideas of the perfect president and the various promises made by presidential candidates during their campaign create unrealistic expectations of the president by the American public.
Political scientists have continually searched for methods that explain presidential power and success derived from using that power effectively. Five different approaches have been argued including the legal approach, presidential roles approach, Neustadtian approach, institutional approach, and presidential decision-making approach. The legal approach says that all power is derived from a legal authority (U.S. Constitution). The presidential roles approach contends that a president’s success is derived from balancing their role as head of state and head of government. The Neustadtian approach contends that “presidential power is the power to persuade“ (Neustadt, p. 11). The institutional approach contends that political climate and institutional relations are what determines presidential power. The last approach, decision-making, provides a more psychological outlook that delves into background, management styles, and psychological dispositions to determine where a president’s idea of power comes from. From all of these, it is essential to study one at a time in order to analyze the major components of each approach for major strengths and weaknesses.
In presidency, character is everything. Born on February 6, 1911, Ronald Reagan, “Dutch,” never knew that he would grow up to be famous. He served two terms as governor of California, but before that he starred in Hollywood films. Originally a liberal Democrat, Reagan ran for the U.S. presidency as a conservative Republican and won, his term beginning in 1980. Ronald Reagan became the oldest President elected when he took office as the 40th President of the United States. He was also the first U.S. president after Dwight D. Eisenhower to get re-elected and finish two complete terms in office. Reagan was president from January 20, 1981 to January 20, 1989. He was an effective president, measured by his popularity and by his influence on history. This former U.S. president is given rightful credit for three large historic gains during his presidency: First, he won the Cold War without firing a shot, then, he revived the American economy that resulted in substantial growth and lastly, he restored the traditional spirit of can-do optimism to the American people who in the late 1970's were dispirited. These three historic proceedings successfully improved American prosperity and peace through strength, elevating Reagan’s presidency to that of American exceptionalism.
The presidency of the United Sates of America has been an evolving office since the term of our first president, George Washington. This evolution has occurred because of the changing times and the evolution of society itself, but also because of the actions of the men who have become president. Starting in the 20th century, most have referred to the presidency as the modern presidency due to changes in both a president's power and the way that the office itself is viewed. As the office of the president has evolved so has who can become president evolved. Yet, even today there are certain individuals who because of their gender or race have yet to hold the office of the presidency. The men that have been president in our modern era have all had faults and greatness, some having more of one than of the other. The modern presidency is an office that many aspire to, but that few hold. The evolution of the office of the presidency has been one from that of a traditional role to that of a modern role that is forever evolving.
George H. W. Bush became the 41st president of the United States of America on January 20, 1989 by succeeding Ronald Reagan. He promised to American that there will be no new taxes. In his Inaugural Address he pledged in "a moment rich with promise" to use American strength as "a force for good." During his presidency he past many bill such as Clean air act which focused on the things reducing urban smog, and curbing acid rain. The other act was the disabilities act, which illegal for employers and employees to discriminate against the disabled ones. In his presidency he had many difficult trials. One of his first hard trials was. Saddam Hussein invaded the city of Kuwait in August 1990. He was able to get Saddam Hussein out of the oil rich country. This is seen to be one of the greatest success during his presidential success. Even though, president job isn't a easy job it requires lots of skill and knowledge and you have to be able to understand what your people want's and how you can help them.
In US history, one of the most widely used ways different eras are split up are by president, making these political figures more widely known than most other Americans throughout time. While this is true, most presidents (with the exception of Franklin Roosevelt) have only between two and eight years to make an impression for the rest of history. Thanks to this fact, some presidents will forever be idolized by Americans, and others will merely be the butt of all jokes for historians.
It takes great crisis for presidents to succeed in controlling domestic policy. From the end of the 1930s to the present presidents have often been frustrated in their domestic programs. In the realm of foreign policy there has not been a single major issue on which presidents, when they were serious and determined, have failed. Derious etbacks to the president in controlling foreign policy are extraordinary and unusual. Presidents have significantly better records in foreing policy and defense matters than in domestic policies.
The humanistic perspective on personality deals exclusively with human behavior. Humanistic psychologists believe that human nature includes a natural drive towards personal growth, that humans have the freedom to choose what they do regardless of environmental factors, and humans are mostly conscious beings and are not controlled by unconscious needs and conflicts. They also believe that a person's subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. Two of the humanistic theorists that have made an impact of humanism are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
When it comes to United States Presidents, everyone has an opinion of each president’s effectiveness. It takes character and talent to hold up to the stress of the White House. One aspect of a leader that measures their effectiveness is their capability to handle a crisis; another is their ability to make decisions for the betterment of whomever they lead, while still taking in all opinions. One example of an extremely effective president that successfully used those qualities was Abraham Lincoln.
The changes that formed the modern presidency shaped a presidency that uses power aggressively and significantly. The modern presidency
The concept of personality has numerous definitions (Fatahi, Moradi, & Kashani-Vahid, 2016). Schultz and Schultz (2009), define personality in its broad sense as the manner of an individual’s behaviour in different situations. This essay explores the nature of personality, with the intention of highlighting its flexibility. The results of numerous empirical research studies are examined in order to investigate if, and how personality changes over time. It will be argued that an individual’s personality has the ability to change throughout their life.