Upload
meredith-daniel
View
217
Download
3
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Presidential Character
Which of the presidents listed in the text in this section do you think Obama (or Bush II) were most like? Why?
Which of the three “publics” do you think Obama is most adept at persuading? The DC crowd The Party people The “publics”
Compare/contrast Obama’s job approval/popularity in the above chart with Wilson’s discussion of how presidential popularity has historically progressed. Draw a conclusion as to why you believe his approval has trended in this way.
Presidential Vetoes
How/why does Obama’s veto number differ from previous presidents? Would you expect this number to increase during the second half of his 1st term? Why or why not?
PresidentRegula
r Vetoes
Pocket Vetoes
Total Vetoes
Vetoes Overridde
nRonald Reagan 39 39 78 9
George H.W. Bush 29 15 44 1
Bill Clinton 36 1 37 2George W.
Bush 12 0 12 4Barack Obama 2 0 2 0
Presidential Character according to Barber
Style Made up of rhetoric, personal relations, and homework All presidents have to deal with some level of each of these;
how they tackle them determines their presidential style The balance between the three will vary depending on the
president His “way of acting”
World-view Primary, politically relevant beliefs, primarily his
conceptions of social causality, human nature, and the central moral conflicts of his time
His “way of seeing” Character
The way a president orients himself toward life; not momentary, but enduringly
The previous three factors are purely psychology. Political Situation is environmental. It is the particulars of the political environment the president faces.
Does he or she face a friendly or hostile Congress? What about the Supreme Court? Does he or she have the support or opposition of the majority of the public? What is the situation internationally? Is it a time of relative peace and prosperity, or a time of conflict and hardships?
Lincoln and FDR faced a world of strife, but had a lot of support in Congress. Madison and Wilson faced a world of strife, but also opposition in the political system. Eisenhower was blessed with peace and prosperity, public popularity, and a relatively friendly Congress. Clinton likewise served during a time of prosperity, but faced a hostile political system.
Political Situation
Climate of Expectations describes what is expected of a president. As we have discussed, a lot is expected of all presidents, and those expectations have been increasing over time. However, some presidents certainly face more or less expectations when they entered office.
There are incredible expectations for President Obama, for example. He is expected to save the economy, fix our health care system, and successfully resolve two foreign wars.
By contrast, presidents like Coolidge and George H.W. Bush faced much lower expectations upon taking office. Primarily they were expected to just uphold the status quo of the previous administration.
Climate of Expectations
Together these five factors are what Barber uses to create his typology: Active-Positives are presidents that are positively
motivated individuals who enjoy their job and seek results. Active-Negatives are motivated primarily by the goals of
getting and keeping power, but receive little emotional benefit from their job.
Passive-Positives seek power as a way to obtain the love and admiration of the others. They are less interested in absolute power or policy ends, but enjoy the job as long as they are popular.
Passive-Negatives seek the office out of civic duty, but are relatively unhappy in doing the job.
Active/Passive – how much you do Positive/Negative – how much you like what you do
Typology of Presidents
Categorizing Presidents
Barber argues that the first four presidents fit nicely into the four categories of the typology…
Active-PositivesThomas Jefferson
Active-NegativesJohn Adams
James Madison
Passive-Positives George Washington
Passive-Negatives
Presidential Character
Categorizing Presidents
Other presidents have fit nicely into these categories as well. Can you categorize other presidents? Do you find that some presidents do not fit into this schema very well?
Active-PositivesThomas Jefferson
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Teddy RooseveltJFK
Active-NegativesJohn Adams
LBJWoodrow Wilson
Richard Nixon
James MadisonRonald ReaganWilliam H. Taft
Passive-Positives
George WashingtonCalvin Coolidge
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ulysses S. Grant
Passive-Negatives
Presidential Character
2009 C-SPAN Great Presidents survey
65 historians and presidential scholars took part Rated presidents in 10 categories of leadership, with score
from 1 (ineffective) to 10 (effective) used. Categories Used
Public Persuasion Moral Authority Relations with Congress Performance Within Context of Times Crisis Leadership International Relations Vision/Setting An Agenda Economic Management Administrative Skills Pursued Equal Justice For All
Keys to Presidential greatness Rated Intelligence –
Although we did not have intelligence test scores, we did ask our raters how intelligent, inventive, insightful, complex, and wise they perceived the various presidents to be.
Assertiveness, is the single most important trait to presidential success. Presidents are an assertive group, and
on the average score higher than eight of ten typical Americans. Positive Emotions –
A president's optimism and enthusiasm are important for performance on the job, but also for getting elected.
Activity Level – Highly energetic chief executives like TR, LBJ, and Carter tend to be rated higher on this scale
by historians than more placid characters like Grant, Taft, and Coolidge. Achievement striving
(having high goals and working towards them in a systematic and focused manner) is an obvious asset and is related to success in most all walks of life apart from the arts.
Low Straightforwardness – Historians tell us that a president's credibility is essential to the ability to lead. Yet, the
tendency and ability to deceive is correlated with historians' ratings of presidential success. Tender-Mindedness
predicts both presidential success and ethical behavior on the job. Competence –
High scorers on this scale seek appropriate information when faced with a decision, have good judgment, and are broadly capable.
Low Vulnerability – Presidents who feel unnerved by stress and unable to cope with problems on their own (score
high on Vulnerability) are likely to be given low marks by historians.
CSPAN Presidential Rankings
President's Name2009 Final
Score
Overall Ranking
2009 2000
Abraham Lincoln 902 1 1
George Washington
854 2 3
Franklin D. Roosevelt
837 3 2
Theodore Roosevelt
781 4 4
Harry S. Truman 708 5 5
John F. Kennedy 701 6 8
Thomas Jefferson 698 7 7
Dwight D. Eisenhower
689 8 9
Woodrow Wilson 683 9 6
Ronald Reagan 671 10 11
The Worst…2009
Overall Score
2009 Rank 2000 Rank
George W. Bush 362 36 NA
Millard Fillmore 351 37 35
Warren G. Harding
327 38 38
William Henry Harrison
324 39 37
Franklin D. Pierce 287 40 39
Andrew Johnson 258 41 40
James Buchanan 227 42 41