New Media and the Presidency

There exists no commonly accepted rating system for judging the effectiveness of a Presidency. Historically, American Presidents have often been remembered, celebrated, or despised largely as a function of the challenges of their time, whether it be threats to peace, challenges to prevailing moral codes, or the wrangling of a bucking economy. At such times, the qualities which American's consider to comprise a strong leader often become the benchmark against which the entire administration is measured; perseverance, courage, confidence, and quick-action in a President can outshine any lack of wisdom, competence, or moral strength. In truth, it is not often that the largely uninformed public can see clearly or immediately the true challenges, victories, and failures of a recent leader.

As such, my own opinions regarding the recent Bush Administration must be stated with some reservation. Not being privy to the inner-workings of foreign politics and interplay, the details of national defense and aggression, or the identities of all of the true sources of power and pressures in America, I am reduced to judging the man, or rather, the man as portrayed by our media and colored by popular opinion, rather than the quality of his reasoning or wisdom of his policies. Still, the ability of a man to show poise and to present a confident face to the public is surely one attribute of an effective leader.

To this extent, I must say that George W. Bush lacked the core qualities of a good leader. He often lent himself to public ridicule. He has never been a strong public speaker, and his humorous faux-pas mingled too often with "misspeaking" and obvious misinformation. When he did act with confidence and speak with passion, as in his bid for public support of the Iraq War, his beliefs were repeatedly proven to be faulty and his reasoning unsubstantiated.

Where decisive and immediate action was necessary, Bush seemed lost and confused. Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of his remaining credibility, and his subsequent insistence that FEMA handled the situation appropriately embodied his inability to act independently of his party and his fear of further humiliation. The controversial nature of his own re-election and Constitutionally-questionable over-reactions to terrorism nurtured a growing bitterness in many. While it must be noted that many extreme global and national events undoubtedly darkened his eight years, Bush was unable to put up even a front of competence, and by the end of his administration the American public was largely disillusioned with the Republican Party and anxious for radical change.

To many, Barack Obama represents the answer to their political prayers. Indeed his campaign cry, change does not seem to represent an insurmountable challenge to President Obama. While Obama will undoubtedly face his own tests in an increasingly complicated global environment, beginning with a struggling American economy, he continues to exude confidence and convey a positive outlook on the future. His educated speech, powerful charisma, and general good-natured manner represent polar opposites to his predecessor and lend a much needed inspiration to the people. It may not be clear that Obama will succeed in all of his coming trials, but his assertiveness, confidence, and ability to communicate a clear vision for the future speaks to a successful Presidency.

Of course, the "honeymoon" is still on, and Obama's confidence exhibits erosion as obstacles mount. The true test will be his ability to persevere in the face of coming hardships, which he freely admits will not be eradicated by the end of his first term. The very fact that Obama references his own ignorance in some matters, however, is encouraging.

With a Democrat-led Congress and strong initial public support, the sky is the limit, and Obama has not shied away from the opportunity to tackle additional long-term issues such as health-care reform. Rather than hiding from problems, which is the impression one is left with concerning Bush, Obama actively seeks out further issues and freely shoulders the burden. His opponents poke fun at his "messiah-like" characterization, but this public perception, if it holds, is exactly what will allow him to be one of our greatest Presidents.

When judging the greatness of President's past, we use standards derived from contextual cultural and moral stances of our own time. It can be argued that, had the South won the civil war, Abraham Lincoln would not enjoy the historical status that he does today. He may instead have been viewed as a traitorous trouble-maker. As such, it is difficult to predict what biases will be applied to the history books one hundred years from now, or what lessons school-children will be forced to memorize from their chapters on the turn of the century.
Regardless of the twists and turns history makes from now until then, however, we can be assured that public image will play a much greater role in that judgment than it has in the past. The intensity of a political situation or the importance of an abstraction of policy is difficult to translate across decades. Qualities of leadership, however, are not. Lincoln's speeches are still recited today, but imagine the effect that a full color digital recording would have on our perceptions of the man. Countless records of many aspects of a President's political and personal life are readily available on the internet today, and will remain so in nearly indestructible form for thousands of years. The Presidents of today will be subject to the scrutiny of their media personality and public face as at no time in the past.