The qualities of a president
Lead Summary
By
Jim Thompson-
By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
At a small conference one time, I heard a retired president of Porsche make this profound statement: “You are hired for your resume and fired for your personality.”
Amazing, simple and very, very true. It applies at all levels, even including the job of president of the United States of America. We may be witnessing a manifestation of this statement in the fall at the ballot box.
Of course, we are seeing lots of “help” in pointing out the personality foibles of our current president, including his niece, who was collecting some nice pocket money last week with her little book. Perhaps that hatchet job will financially and mentally soothe her fevered brow.
I’ve only read the free excerpts (not about to give her any money), but what I have read about her grandfather (who she blames for the supposed dysfunctionality in her family) strikes me as a description of many fathers of that generation, including mine. These men, and their wives, grew up in very hard times, from the first World War, when many of them were children at home, through the Great Depression, through World War II.
They took no prisoners, accepted no excuses and expected the highest level of performance. I fully identify with the nuclear family she describes and suspect many others of my generation do, too. Her grandfather is neither alarming nor exceptional in my book.
I have mentioned before that I have spent my career working for developers like Donald Trump. Again, just like the grandfather, they are neither alarming nor exceptional. They just are what they are. I am comfortable with such personalities because I have spent 70 years around such personalities.
My puzzlement is this: How did seemingly everyone else avoid exposure to these traits?
However, this leads to the question: If you don’t like the performance and personality of Donald Trump, what do you want? His service and performance on behalf of the country have been remarkably good, made even more impressive by the constant barrage of hate thrown at him by the opposition from the day he announced his candidacy until now.
Under his tenure, the economy performed in an excellent manner up until the COVID-19 event (which I don’t see as his problem; in fact, it may have been manufactured and foisted on us by his enemies).
I like the way he has kept the rest of the world slightly on edge – this keeps them on their toes. He has negotiated some great new trade agreements and gotten the rest of the world to treat the U.S. with some respect. He has reduced our cost for the defense of Europe.
But again, what do you want?
Surely, you cannot raise up Joe Biden as a sterling example of the ideal presidential candidate. Many years of service, some good accomplishments at times perhaps (and some shady dealings), but clearly past his prime. Yet, he is the candidate that Angela Davis will push. She is “throwing her support behind Joe Biden for president, calling it crucial to back the candidate ‘who can be most effectively pressured’ by the left (Washington Times, July 13, 2020).
What a great reason to vote for someone. Vote for Joe because he is weak, and we can push him around.
For you youngsters who don’t know who Angela Davis is, I recommend you look her up on Wikipedia. She has quite a resume from attaining a Ph.D. in communist East Germany to being the registrant of firearms used in a mass killing in a Marin County, Calif. courtroom in 1970. And that is just the start.
Unfortunately, our modern gauntlet system keeps many sane, reasonable candidates from running for the office. At this point, you know the drill – literally the day after the election this fall, announcements will come out from prospective candidates “throwing their hat into the ring” for the election of 2024. We’ll start the cycle all over again.
Having a reasonable selection process will start when we have a national press that returns to its roots, choosing fair and balanced reporting over partisan opinion hyperbole.
Our current situation reminds me of the conditions described in the book "Andersonville," the definitive work on the wretched conditions in the Confederate Civil War prison in Georgia. Despite the horrible conditions for the majority of the prisoners (that could be us, the ordinary citizens), gangs of prisoners (that’s the press today) rose up to yell and curry favor with the guards (the politicians of today).
Only when we can remove ourselves from these despicable conditions will statespersons emerge as presidential candidates. As I have said before, the ideal situation would be two (or more) outstanding candidates, making it difficult to choose, but leaving us with either outcome being good for the country.
I don’t think that has happened since Jefferson faced off against Adams in 1796.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.
HCP columnist
At a small conference one time, I heard a retired president of Porsche make this profound statement: “You are hired for your resume and fired for your personality.”
Amazing, simple and very, very true. It applies at all levels, even including the job of president of the United States of America. We may be witnessing a manifestation of this statement in the fall at the ballot box.
Of course, we are seeing lots of “help” in pointing out the personality foibles of our current president, including his niece, who was collecting some nice pocket money last week with her little book. Perhaps that hatchet job will financially and mentally soothe her fevered brow.
I’ve only read the free excerpts (not about to give her any money), but what I have read about her grandfather (who she blames for the supposed dysfunctionality in her family) strikes me as a description of many fathers of that generation, including mine. These men, and their wives, grew up in very hard times, from the first World War, when many of them were children at home, through the Great Depression, through World War II.
They took no prisoners, accepted no excuses and expected the highest level of performance. I fully identify with the nuclear family she describes and suspect many others of my generation do, too. Her grandfather is neither alarming nor exceptional in my book.
I have mentioned before that I have spent my career working for developers like Donald Trump. Again, just like the grandfather, they are neither alarming nor exceptional. They just are what they are. I am comfortable with such personalities because I have spent 70 years around such personalities.
My puzzlement is this: How did seemingly everyone else avoid exposure to these traits?
However, this leads to the question: If you don’t like the performance and personality of Donald Trump, what do you want? His service and performance on behalf of the country have been remarkably good, made even more impressive by the constant barrage of hate thrown at him by the opposition from the day he announced his candidacy until now.
Under his tenure, the economy performed in an excellent manner up until the COVID-19 event (which I don’t see as his problem; in fact, it may have been manufactured and foisted on us by his enemies).
I like the way he has kept the rest of the world slightly on edge – this keeps them on their toes. He has negotiated some great new trade agreements and gotten the rest of the world to treat the U.S. with some respect. He has reduced our cost for the defense of Europe.
But again, what do you want?
Surely, you cannot raise up Joe Biden as a sterling example of the ideal presidential candidate. Many years of service, some good accomplishments at times perhaps (and some shady dealings), but clearly past his prime. Yet, he is the candidate that Angela Davis will push. She is “throwing her support behind Joe Biden for president, calling it crucial to back the candidate ‘who can be most effectively pressured’ by the left (Washington Times, July 13, 2020).
What a great reason to vote for someone. Vote for Joe because he is weak, and we can push him around.
For you youngsters who don’t know who Angela Davis is, I recommend you look her up on Wikipedia. She has quite a resume from attaining a Ph.D. in communist East Germany to being the registrant of firearms used in a mass killing in a Marin County, Calif. courtroom in 1970. And that is just the start.
Unfortunately, our modern gauntlet system keeps many sane, reasonable candidates from running for the office. At this point, you know the drill – literally the day after the election this fall, announcements will come out from prospective candidates “throwing their hat into the ring” for the election of 2024. We’ll start the cycle all over again.
Having a reasonable selection process will start when we have a national press that returns to its roots, choosing fair and balanced reporting over partisan opinion hyperbole.
Our current situation reminds me of the conditions described in the book "Andersonville," the definitive work on the wretched conditions in the Confederate Civil War prison in Georgia. Despite the horrible conditions for the majority of the prisoners (that could be us, the ordinary citizens), gangs of prisoners (that’s the press today) rose up to yell and curry favor with the guards (the politicians of today).
Only when we can remove ourselves from these despicable conditions will statespersons emerge as presidential candidates. As I have said before, the ideal situation would be two (or more) outstanding candidates, making it difficult to choose, but leaving us with either outcome being good for the country.
I don’t think that has happened since Jefferson faced off against Adams in 1796.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.