Temperament and the Presidency

This piece was written some weeks ago as an op-ed. It was submitted to several major newspapers and rejected. Too strong? I'll let you be the judge.


Temperament and the Presidency

You are a member of the search committee looking for a new CEO for a large multinational Corp. The job requires negotiating contracts with unions, overseeing numerous mergers and acquisitions, dealing with government regulators, and doing long rang strategic planning for the corporation to ensure its future profitability. One of the applicants at first glance looks good but under the heading of “my weaknesses” he has listed impetuousness, stubbornness, an inability to admit mistakes and a slowness to correct them as well as some problems with anger management. Would you hire him? Well you might give him an A for honesty, but you certainly wouldn't hire him, especially in light of the fact that there were several other good applicants available to choose from. The voters of Iowa and New Hampshire and other early primary states have a far more important job than choosing the CEO of a major company. They are the search committee responsible for helping the Democrats choose their nominee for president of the United States. The question is are Howard Dean’s self-admitted temperament problems relevant to the issue of his fitness to be president? The answer is clearly yes.


By his own admission as well as those of his friends and relatives Howard Dean has problems with a quick temper, stubbornness, and impetuousness. All of these issues have been addressed before by numerous writers and are summarized quite well in a recent Washington post editorial. (Assessing Mr. Dean 12/28/03) The question is do these have any bearing on his ability to beat Bush in the fall election and more importantly on his ability to be a successful president ?


Though you may hate them, George Bush and Carl Rove are not stupid, especially when it comes to politics. The statements that Dean has already made (the 9/11 comment probably being the most egregious of many) can and will be used against him in the November election. Remember how they successfully shaped the image of Al Gore as a liar or at least a serial exaggerater, with much less material at their disposal than Dean has already provided. It seems clear to me and many others that Dean is already a seriously flawed candidate that has little if any chance of beating Bush.


But what about the larger issue. Could an admittedly stubborn impetuous man with occasionally questionable judgment make a good president? Let’s take another tack for a second. Let’s put this man in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis. Would he have the judgment and calm resolve necessary to stop World War Three? Would he have been able to withstand the temptation to invade or bomb, as virtually all of president Kennedy’s advisors were recommending, or would he have followed the course that Kennedy chose, to negotiate and save the world from nuclear devastation. In this case having experienced advisors or even an experienced vice-president would not have averted war. The buck stops on the president’s desk and there is no substitute for calm reasoned judgment on the part of the president Judgment cannot be absorbed by osmosis from one’s advisors. You either have it or you don’t.


I will argue that personality and temperament are critical issues to address in picking a president. Richard Nixon was bright and had well thought out policies but his presidency ultimately failed because of his personality and temperament. And that failing almost brought down our republic.


We as Democrats have many good candidates this year, some more electable than others, but all of them have shown throughout their careers that they have far better temperaments to be president than Howard Dean. Unfortunately, Gov. Dean has shown himself to be a fatally flawed candidate who although he may get nominated is unlikely to get elected. Or, if by some miracle of fate he is elected, is unlikely to be successful. In this increasingly dangerous world the personality and temperament of our future president should not be viewed, as it is in some quarters, as a side issue, but rather as a central and important qualification for the office of President.

Mickey