What Matters Most in the Next President

Posted on March 26, 2007
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Looking ahead for the U.S., Jonathan Alter has it right in his Newsweek column, “Wrong Time for an Urban Cowboy?,” assessing the presidential appeal of Rudy Giuliani: a good man in a crisis, maybe, but wrong, likely, for the long haul.

“Job One in 2009,” Alter writes, “will be reviving the prestige of the United States, which is a prerequisite for confronting nuclear threats, jihadists, climate change – you name it – none of which can be tackled by Americans acting alone.”

Even though America’s global presence for betterment is bigger than a current President, Alter’s emphasis on what will count most in the makeup of the next President is on the mark. He continues:

“So to be effective, Bush’s successor must be a tough-minded but flexible and humble chief executive with a talent for building bridges, not burning them. For instance, preventing terrorism is less a matter of war than a subtle diplomatic challenge involving international coordination and a convincing projection of Western values. It’s a group activity, which means that the next commander-in-chief will need a Tom Sawyer-like skill in getting other kids in the global neighborhood to paint the fence. This requires charm and leadership.”

Charm and leadership, indeed. World “cultural” issues are foremost for the future. And the candidate who can best perceive what’s gnawing at the heart of other cultures and blend those feelings with U.S. ideals has the best hope of succeeding as the next U.S. President. Thank you, Jonathan!

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