One of them is the pressure to bring in campaign workers. You need some campaign people because they have knowledge of why you’re there in the first place, but you also need people who have experience with governing. People with campaign experience have you looking at things in terms of black and white. When you get into the White House, you’re always going to be dealing with shades of grey, because compromise is important. Compromising is often what governing is about.
What are the attributes that make a president a great leader? Which presidents do you think have exhibited these best?
A president needs to be a listener. You have to listen in order to learn which issues are of critical importance. You need to be able to explain what the challenges are that we are facing, lay out how we will face those challenges and then give updates on the actions of the government in that particular area. Another quality is the ability to inspire people in a way that gives them hope. One more quality is having an understanding of the resources available in departments and agenciesand making use of them.
I think Theodore Roosevelt combined a lot of these qualities. He was able to get a great deal done without a crisis. He showed that a president should be a world leader — negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese war, facilitating the building of the Panama Canal and receiving a Nobel Peace Prize for his work. Usually the great leaders that we think of, such as Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, governed during periods of war. Theodore Roosevelt wanted to take a strong position on issues that he felt were important, including domestic issues such as railroad regulation. All along the way, he provided strong presidential leadership.
Do you have a favorite story about a presidential transition?
President Truman wanted to bring together both candidates in 1952, Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower, for lunch at the White House. Stevenson accepted, but Eisenhower did not. Eisenhower and his team were very suspicious of what Truman had in mind. Truman wanted to brief them, have all the Cabinet members brief them on their departments and what was going on, and answer whatever questions they had. In 2008, I think for the first time, we really got beyond the partisan suspicion to have both sides working together, including being in the same room and doing that well before the presidential election and prior to the conventions.
More from On Leadership:
Remembering Sally Ride’s leadership
Stephen Covey’s seven habits, personified
Great summer reads for government leaders
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On Leadership: @post_lead | Editor: @lily_cunningham
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