I am often asked which candidate running for president would be the best leader and why. After meticulously sifting through hundreds of articles and personal accounts as well as biographies, I'll share my conclusion after describing my criteria.
Most presidential scholars and leadership aficionados agree that Abraham Lincoln was the country's best president ever. Lincoln possessed a unique mix of strong intelligence, such as the ability to solve problems, as well as core personal character. Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin chronicled Lincoln's personal character well in her book Team of Rivals, including his understanding of himself and others, ability to take responsibility for mistakes and learn from them, judgment, and faculty to remain hopeful through setbacks.
Unfortunately, campaign commentators rarely glean these nuances in candidates' character, concentrating instead on media-driven narratives. The result can be tragic. In 2000, for example, the media establishment focused on George Bush's self-description as a moderate, compassionate conservative. That appealing narrative ignored a number of personal flaws that would ultimately most impact his presidency, such as his inability to acknowledge his mistakes or learn from them.
During this election cycle, many of the same herd-like, media-driven narrative patterns are repeating. Candidates try to position or sell themselves as the strongest or most experienced, using a variety of relevant or irrelevant narratives from their past. With experience, however, the most critical question is why some people learn from their experience while others do not. That answer is directly linked to a leader's personal character, not the experience itself.
When Lincoln arrived in Washington, he was an outsider, a one-term Congressman with extremely limited government experience, and mostly known as a prairie lawyer. Yet, he understood his weaknesses and, with no close allies, was confident enough to surround himself with a remarkable cabinet. His advisers had vastly different viewpoints and a number wanted to be president themselves. Aside from his intelligence, it was Lincoln's character -- his judgment, self-knowledge and trustworthiness, and ability to understand others' motives and learn from his mistakes - that allowed him to manage the cabinet and lead the country with the strength that he did.
In assessing the 2008 presidential field, several veteran observers have effectively delved beneath the superficial narratives to examine these key qualities of presidential leadership. David Brooks wrote the most insightful piece I have encountered in his New York Times Op-Ed on December 18, 2007 entitled, "The Obama-Clinton Issue" in which he argues that, "[Barack] Obama is an inner-directed man in a profession filled with insecure outer-directed ones," and notes:
Presidents are buffeted by sycophancy, criticism, and betrayal. They must improvise amid a thousand fluid crises. They're isolated and also exposed, puffed up on the outside and hollowed out within. With the presidency, character and self-knowledge matter more than even experience.
Compared to other candidates, Barack Obama stands out in a singular way for having a unique combination of political leadership abilities like Lincoln had. Like Bill and Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney, Obama has strong intellectual aptitude, which he has demonstrated dating back to when he was president of the Harvard Law Review. More uniquely, though, Obama appears to possess remarkable personal character. He understands who he is, exemplified by the comfort he has in his own skin, his past judgments stand up well against the test of time, and he displays strong consistency grounded in a steady adherence to his guiding principles.
At a time when the country deserves and perhaps needs an exceptional president, a Lincolnesque leader may be in our midst.
Peter Sims is coauthor of the nationally best-selling book on leadership "True North" with author Bill George and can be reached at peter@petersims.com.
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