Michael Beschloss knows more about America's 44 presidents than perhaps anyone on earth. Beschloss, an author and historian, regaled a crowd in Charlotte Thursday night with stories about those presidents, including some off-color lines from LBJ (keep reading).
Beschloss, speaking at UNC Charlotte's uptown campus, spelled out the four qualities that he thinks define a great president. They might come in handy as you decide between President Obama and Mitt Romney. (Or they might not; neither man scores well on all four of these.)
Quality No. 1: Presidential courage. Being willing to do the right thing even if it's unpopular.
Quality No. 2: Strong oratorical skills to persuade Americans to go along with unpopular decisions.
Quality No. 3: A sense of history. Presidents are forced to deal with unanticipated problems. Having a sense of history gives a president context and comfort that other people have been in tough situations before.
Quality No. 4: An ability to work with the other side. This is more than just Democrats working with Republicans or vice versa. It's having the imagination to truly understand and appreciate how someone could think differently from you.
Beschloss would say that you should vote in November for whichever candidate you think scores better overall on those four.
Beschloss told a lot of stories, many of them about LBJ. One LBJ line, from when he was bored by an economist: "Did you ever think that making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg? It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else."
-- Taylor Batten
Friday, September 28, 2012
The 4 qualities of a great president
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
1 Courage... Lie about the death of the Ambassador, lie about the cause and don't allow the FBI into Libya to investigate, appear on The View instead of meeting with world leaders while calling yourself "eye candy". And not one word of outrage from the coward media.
2. Strong oratory skills. Never leave home without your tele-prompter and always pander to the stupid.
3. Strong sense of history... Just change it or add your name to the Presidential history book like President Hubris did only to delete these changes after he got caught doing so.
4. Ability to work with the other side... Just tell the other side "they can come along as long as they ride on the back of the bus" and use words like "we won" and then tell lie after lie about Obama care..
And now you know why Taylor loves President Empty Chair.
Other than oratory skills, Obama is an empty suit
1) Faith in God
2) Sound Judgement
2.5) Optimist
3) Ability to Lead
4) Humble
@Burt Shabby: 1 & 2 contradict one another!
How long is the Observer going to ignore Gary Johnson? Go to hell Batten.
Post a Comment