Last week in Florida, Barack Obama suggested that if elected president, he would build a team of advisers the same way Abraham Lincoln did: by including his political opponents. Lincoln, as historian Doris Kearns Goodwin points out in "Team of Rivals," was a strong, confident president who united his adversaries and, indeed, the country through his "political genius." Instead of surrounding himself with "yes" men, he welcomed internal debate among his opponents that ultimately refined and strengthened his strategies. In the outgoing administration, we have seen the dangers that result when the president's counsel comes from a like-minded group: ineptitude, failing policies and poor accountability.
If elected, Obama would be wise to follow his hero's model. It is easy to lead when political opposition comes from an unseen, distant constituency; it is more difficult to lead when the challenge comes from your own strategists. However, as in economics, competition leads to product improvement. And in the case of the White House, the product is policy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
If he's elected, it would be very commendable for him to assemble a team like that. I hope he does.
Any politician seems better than G.W. Bush at this point (duh), but Obama has a real gift with words, a knack to inspire the youth vote, and a striking intellect. His speech on race in Philadelphia was instantly compared by historians to JFK and Lincoln. If the Clinton camp can put party above personal interest, we have a chance to elect not just a better president, but a great president.
Post a Comment