Where I grew up,
Summer and Winter are verbs. Grammarians call it denominalization. One summers
up north and winters in Florida or other places warm. Let’s make president a
verb. We could talk about how one presidents, how one could president better.
We could critique when one isn’t presidenting well. Instead of saying that he or
she governs well, we could say he or she presidents well, saving governing for
governors. It seems more precise than “presidential.”
Coastal educated
liberal elites, who have become a genre unto themselves, criticized President
Trump for not being presidential enough. He seemed to enjoy his way of
presidenting. Every morning, afternoon, and evening he would tweet out to the
world whatever was bothering him at the moment. He did it to wild acclaim from
his base of supporters who thought he presidented just fine; no need to change
strategy. Twitter calmed the waters a bit when they expelled President Trump.
That won’t last long, will it? President 45 tells us that he plans to set up
his own platform for communicating several times a day to his millions of fans.
This January’s
inauguration brought a different style of presidenting. We are still getting
used to it, some of us. Biden presidents differently from Trump. His tweets,
when there are any, seem more strategic, educational, and well-structured.
Facebook videos are well scripted and pointed toward policy and programs.
Senator Cronyn of Texas wondered aloud on cable news if Biden was even in
charge at the White House because presidenting well set an expectation for
numerous daily tweets, name-calling, and call-ins to Fox News. Maybe Biden has
a better communications staff.
There is evidence
that 70,000,000 people may not agree with this, but I would like to take a stab
at how one presidents well, regardless of party, platform, or policy. In
politics, ego is a big deal; your beliefs about making America better or greater
tend to be deep-seated. Emotions bubble to the surface and politicians get
worked up when things don’t go their way or if people disagree with them.
Having stipulated that, what makes good presidenting?
Government is not
a business; the idea of running a government like a business is not very
helpful. Leadership, however, cuts across all organizational formats, from education,
government, business, and non-profits, to PTAs. Good presidenting requires good
leadership instincts and it requires institutional leadership skills. Those
skills are very different from managerial skills, which tend to be operational.
Presidenting
begins with a deep-seated core value that “all men are created equal,” and
therefore all people must be treated equally and with equal respect; we strive to
be better day by day. We are an exceptional country, endowed with all of the
natural resources needed to care for its people, to provide for their peace, their
tranquility, and their safety. Its institutions matter too. Presidenting builds
up people’s trust in these institutions and makes them more effective. Leadership
brings people in, it doesn’t shut them out. Effective presidents communicate
vision and programs consistently and often. Good presidenting requires good
leadership that builds up people, not tear them down.
We are a nation
divided, more divided now than ten years ago. We saw that division in the
insurrection at our temple of democracy on January 6. Doug Sosnik of the
Brunswick Group points out that 94% of the Senators are from states that their
party’s presidential candidate won. The highly respected political strategist points
out that legislators are expected to vote the party line, irrespective of the
issue. That’s bad legislating. Politicians can’t even agree on what
bipartisanship means. It makes one pine for the days when the politicos called
each other names all day, traded pork-barrel programs for votes, and then spent
the evening playing poker and drinking whisky with each other.
The last four months
of presidenting were easier for most people. I’ve noticed a calming among
friends who still talk politics. There isn’t a rush to the TV set or the
computer to get the latest bombast from the White House or a representative’s
office. Policies are presented with accompanying background information and
strategy. It seems less off-the-cuff than the previous administration, whether
you agree with the policy or not.
Presidenting is
most effective when the people understand the plan, the strategy, the data, the
goal, and especially the vision. Presidenting is easier on the heart when it is
respectful of those who differ on policy when a difference isn’t tagged an
enemy. Both political parties are in for a slog over the next three years, but
good presidenting requires good manners, civility, respect for all people, and
a continuing effort to soothe the soul of the nation. A friend once wrote,
“Trust is as important as competence and more important than affinity.” I
agree.
Presidenting
isn’t an easy job, but the job description is very clear: “…form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity.”
Good presidenting
is always about “We the people.” It is never about me the president.
