Obama's Crisis Presidency

As the presidency of George Bush was defined by the 9/11 crisis, Barack Obama's first term will be shaped by a battered economy. Bush launched his "war" on terror and Obama will have to wage war on recession. To be successful, Obama must learn from five critical mistakes Bush made mismanaging his crisis.

Involve the American People: In the days after 9/11, George Bush made a critical error by not involving Americans in his war on terror. At the time, critics noted Bush had failed to learn from the actions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. As World War II unfolded, FDR ensured that all Americans had a role to play: some served in the military while others were part of the domestic security system; many women shed their traditional roles and became factory workers; and children were asked to collect scrap metal, newspapers, and miscellaneous refuse such as bacon fat. FDR understood an engaged citizenry is a mighty resource and harnessed our energy to galvanize the U.S. economy.

Although Americans initially supported the war on terror, Bush never involved us in his struggle to make the U.S. safe and rid the world of terrorists. Americans were dismissed - told to "go shopping" - while the fight against Al Qaeda was designed as an exclusively military campaign guided by Bush's lieutenants. Among the many mistakes resulting from this narrow vision was the failure to cut off funds to the terrorists, who were bankrolled by Middle Eastern oil wealth fueled by America's addiction to imported fossil fuel. As a consequence of Bush's shortsighted policy, the war on terror has failed; while there have been no further attacks on American soil, terrorist have regrouped in Pakistan, attracted new recruits, and launched attacks on our allies.

As a former community organizer, Barack Obama understands the importance of building a broad coalition to tackle a difficult national problem. As he struggles to turnaround a damaged economy, he will enlist support from all facets of American society: Capital Hill to Wall Street to Main Street. During his successful Presidential campaign, Obama built an impressive organization that involved ten million Americans as donors or volunteers. Since November 4th, many of these activists continue to meet, eager to help the President-elect have a successful first term. These volunteers can be enlisted not only for political action - nudging wayward Congress people to support Obama initiatives - but also for service within their communities: volunteering at soup kitchens, finding housing for those who have lost their homes due to the recession, weatherproofing public facilities, and so forth. One of the lessons of The Great Depression was that it touched every American and a unified effort was required to turn the economy around.

Ask for Sacrifice: Because George Bush never conceived of the war on terror as a campaign involving the American people, he never asked us for sacrifice. This was a stark contrast to FDR's position at the onset of World War II, when he issued a call for sacrifice. Early in 1942, Roosevelt promoted a seven-point program that touched every American: regulation of "personal and corporate profits" through tax policy; controls on prices and rents; stabilization of wages; regulation of farm prices; investment in government bonds; rationing of scarce commodities - such as oil; and encouragement of personal savings. Barack Obama would do well to study FDR's program.

Focus on Key Objectives: One of the many problems with Bush's ill-conceived war on terror was that it wasn't possible to measure progress. For example, in March of 2003, at the onset of the invasion of Iraq, most Americans couldn't tell whether the US was winning or losing the war on terror. The metrics of success were ill defined and this contributed to the public's confusion in the days leading up to the invasion.

President Obama's war on the recession should begin with a small number of understandable objectives, common-sense metrics that go beyond positive growth of GDP. These might come from alternatives to the GDP such as the "green" GDP or the triple bottom line. It's clear that some goals have to reflect conditions on Main Street, such as the number of Americans earning a living wage or the CEO-Minimum Wage Ratio -- at last report, 821 to 1. Others objectives might measure energy usage, such as our consumption of carbon-based fuel.

Communicate Progress: Finally, Bush didn't follow FDR's example and talk to the American people; he was content to scare rather than reassure. Roosevelt famously communicated by means of a series of radio addresses - the fireside chats. Since being elected President, Barack Obama has used radio and the Internet, YouTube, for weekly communication about his plans to deal with the economic crisis.

Since November 4th, Barack Obama has focused on the financial crisis gripping America and taken action to reassure Americans. Obama appears to have learned from George Bush's crisis management mistakes.

Comments

[goldnchyl]

Well written article. But, as the author offers advice to our new president, it seems to me that Obama has been there and is doing that.

[08politicaljunkie]

Why would GWB engage the American populace in his illegal war designed to rob those same people?

[myclarity]

"""Involve the American People: In the days after 9/11, George Bush made a critical error by not involving Americans in his war on terror. At the time, critics noted Bush had failed to learn from the actions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.""""


Did that mean locking up people of middleeastern descent like Roosevelt did to the Japanese people that were living in the US?

[BUTCHER111]

Another thing that could be done would be in high school and college and other adult education organizations teach Emergency and Disaster Preparation. Teaching CPR, basic first aid, and other emergency preparedness kills, not just to help out in terrorist attacks but natural and other emergencies would be a benefit and be a way to get people involved.

[Michale32086]

The gist I got from the author is not so much getting people involved, but rather keeping people informed.

Or (more likely) it's because of my inherent biases, that's what I took from his commentary..

But it seems that the author was more concerned about information dissemination.

If that is correct, then my original objection stands.

If I got it totally wrong (a distinct possibility) then my apologies to all, including the author, for missing the point...

Michale....

[peterg76]

The presidency of George Bush was not defined by the 9/11 crisis, it was defined by his exploitation of that crisis. Little George had his deer in the headlights moment when the crisis came, then his impositiion of a police state, and the Iraq Oil War. With respect to the crisis itself, he was a total, unmitigated failure - bin Laden is still at large.

[myclarity]

why is it so hard to understand that as Iraq becomes a free democracy in the middle of a region full of fundamentalist Islamic radical countries that their education system, wealth redistribution and freedom will influence them to desire to make changes. Changes that will result in them desiring to become free democracies that will not harbor or encourage terrorism against us and the world.

[peterg76]

The Iraqis want democracy. Ask yourself why it hasn't happened.

[Michale32086]

}}}}
Involve the American People: In the days after 9/11, George Bush made a critical error by not involving Americans in his war on terror. At the time, critics noted Bush had failed to learn from the actions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
{{{{

As someone who has more than a passing knowledge in the field, I can assure you that your comparisons are not proper..

You CAN involve the people in a "war on recession" and you CAN involve the people in a conventional war like the one that was started on 7 Dec 41..

But you simply CANNOT involve the people in a covert war against terrorism. The counter-terrorist field, BY DEFINITION, requires the blackest of secrecy for it to be effective..

Nor can you give "fire-side" updates as to how things are progressing.. Many of the victories must remain completely secret to insure that there will be CONTINUED victories..

"Mistakes" made by the Bush administration in the prosecution of the war on terror were not really mistakes at all, but rather the nature of the beast that is CT operations....

Which isn't to say that the Bush administration didn't make ANY mistakes. That is foolish to assert.

But much of what you point out as "mistakes" were not.. They were necessities..

Michale.....

[ConfuciusSay-]

You are maybe considering only a portion of the whole problem: the theatre of the war.
Of course we can't expect regular citizens to become spies. Or brief them on classified material.

But we could ask them to participate in a movement to reduce fossil fuel dependence.

Without the oil addiction, the dynamic of the relationship with the Middle East changes, economic power recentralizes, the planet cools, the strategic strain on US military extension of power drops, aggravation and recruitment of the jihadists is reduced, funding to the terrorists is strangled, the attacks will have to dwindle, the world moves forward.

It's like driving with the brakes off.

Sacrifice and independence all around the world are hallmarks of the spirit that won wars in the past. Not upon the battlefield alone, but quietly in our fathers own lives. Mr. Bush did not lead this effort, at the time when we would have actually listened to him. Instead, he acted in the commercial interests of Big Oil.

[Michale32086]

My post was in respect to the counter-terrorism/war on terror aspects. In such a conflict the public MUST be kept in the dark... It's the nature of the beast..

A government that has no secrets, that is completely open and transparent, will last exactly one day..

But yes. In the larger context of a conventional war it is as you and the author say.. Sacrifice and participation will win the day...

Michale...