The Way of The Leader

By way of apology, I have not been blogging for a while. That’s because I got so distracted by the events of the day, and the week, that I had trouble putting my finger on what has been missing in the ongoing debate over our president. But, finally, I think I got it. - Mitch

So, what makes a good leader?

Well, there are a lot of ways to answer the question, as many different ways as there are different kinds of leaders.

We’ve seen a lot of them without giving much thought to the question. Those are the leaders that people follow, and who get the job done, whatever the job may be. It all seems so obvious.

There are military leaders, leaders on football teams, leaders in the world of business. Strangely, there aren’t too many leaders - try to think of just one - in the world of science or art or drama. Not just those fields either. No great leader writers, no great leader accountants, no great leaders in charities.

That’s because leaders have to point in a direction and take their followers there. It;s why we have so many religious leaders and so few poetry leaders. Which, in many respects, is probably a good thing.

There is room to quibble, of course. I can think of some saints who might be considered leaders, just as I can think of some great baseball players who would never be called a leader. But, mostly, it’s the nature of the job that gives someone the opportunity to lead.

Which, of course, brings us to the President of the United States.

Now, not every president was a great leader. For every Washington or Lincoln, there was a James Buchanan or a Millard Fillmore.

It’s almost impossible to compare modern presidents with the ones who served a century or two ago. The jobs and the technology and our society are just too different.

But, it is possible to look at one or two things that were vital to their leadership ability, and all the men who have held the office of President had to do those things. They had to set a direction for the country, and they had to show how to get there.

Now, being a strict Constitutionalist, I know that the President is the chief executive, and that Congress is the deliberative body that sets national policy. In short, Congress tells the president where they want the United States to go, and the president does the hard work of getting us there. That’s why Congress writes so many laws, and why the president can, at most, give the members of Congress a proposed bill that he or she would like them to pass.

It’s a really good system, which would work really well if Congress hadn’t given up its responsibility to deal with the hard issues a long time ago. It’s hard to pinpoint just when, but a few years after the end of World War II would be a good place to look for the big change.

That was the time of the big Red Scare, when we thought Communists were going to take over the world. We helped create the United Nations to keep a world war from happening again, and we helped create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to stand up to Soviet expansion.

Then, a few years after approving the Marshall Plan that saved the economic base of Europe, a lot of members of Congress found they could get more votes by talking tough about Communist radicals than by actually passing laws to deal with the threat - things like aid to nations on the border of the the Soviet block, or opening our country to immigrants fleeing Soviet expansion.

And after some unhappy years of blacklisting writers, finding Communists under our neighbor’s couch and in the State Department, we started going down the easy road, where leadership meant talking instead of acting. There were some exceptions, of course, but no road is straight and smooth.

The exceptions - things like dealing with the rabid racism and discrimination at home or the threat of nuclear missiles in Cuba - do not prove the rule. Even John F. Kennedy’s plans for a Great Society (and he was considered a real leader by many) couldn’t get approved in Congress until the job fell to Lyndon Johnson (who was seen as only a wheeler-dealer).

So, who was the last great Presidential leader of modern times? An interesting debate over a glass   of wine. Democrats cab bring up President Obama. Republicans can bring up President Reagan, and we can kill off a good bottle of Riesling or two without ever reaching an agreement.

But, let me propose a simpler debate. Is Donald Trump a good leader?

It’s tempting to say “no, no, no” and follow it up with “Let me count the ways,” but all that does is play Trump’s game. Look at the bright shiny objects. Look at all the things he says. Look at the way he acts. Look at the people he has put in charge of things.

Look, look, look. And look some more.

No, let’s just go back to the heart of the matter. Where is he leading the nation?

There is a commercial being aired as part of Trump’s new re-election campaign that lists his accomplishments. The stock market has gone up. Jobs are being created. America is becoming great again.

Well, in truth, the stock market has been going up pretty steadily since it crashed in 2008, because businesses are doing really well. Not the people on fixed income or the workers who can’t keep pace with inflation, but certainly its been good for people who own stock.

Jobs are being created, but not enough good-paying jobs to make up for jobs being lost to automation, imports and the closing or merging of so many businesses, from mom and pop stores to the office supply stores and the banks. Try to shop at a Sears lately?

So, what has The Donald done to lead us into the glowing future. What is his plan?

That’s simple. His plan is to demand that someone else do it. Let the Generals figure out what to do in Afghanistan (which turns out to be doing more of the same, and which brings back memories of Vietnam). Let China figure our what to do about North Korea. (I know. I won’t go there). Let Congress figure out how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

That last one has a sequel or two. The first is “Let the Governors figure out how to deliver health care with less federal money than we are spending now” and the second is “Why aren’t those private charities stepping up to take care of the poor people who aren’t covered by those heartless governors?”

Remember the test? A leader has to show the nation where he wants to take us, and come up with a plan to get us there.

And the plan can’t just be Let Someone Else Do It.