In this post:
I consider what skills I most likely need to develop to be an effective president.
Introduction
I will be eligible to be president soon. I’m a natural-born U.S. citizen, I’ve lived in the States for over 14 years, and I’ll be 35. Furthermore, I’ve never been impeached, never rebelled against the United States, and never been the president before.
While not required of my past experience, I have not been a member of congress, never been a governor, never been a military general, nor been a cabinet member of any presidential administration. I do have both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, though neither is in law. The majority of those that have been elected as president in our country’s history have been lawyers or held one of the roles mentioned earlier.
Given 20 years or so (time enough to retire from my current career beforehand), I could probably attain any of those roles and a law degree, but again, none of these is required.
Eligibility and qualifications aside, what does the president do, and what skills might I need to develop to execute the role well?
Presidents establish agendas.
Before even getting to swear in, I’d have to campaign and be elected. To do that, I’d have to convince enough electors to vote for me. To do that, I’d have to build a suitable agenda.
I imagine that the creation of a suitable agenda would require a good understanding of significant problems facing the American people and plausible-sounding concepts to try to solve those problems.
This strikes me as a monumental task that requires research and problem-solving teams.
So: Learn how to identify expertise in others and learn how to build teams among people with different personalities and backgrounds.
Presidents sign and veto bills.
Congress tries to pass laws. Passage of those laws requires the president’s signature, but they can try again if he refuses to sign (i.e., vetoes). That doesn’t always work, though.
While there is some interplay between the elected members of congress and the president’s agenda, it seems I’d need a historically deep understanding of the many various constituents across the country and skills to recognize resources and considerations for negotiating with multiple parties simultaneously.
…I know I’m skipping a ton of context, but I think the attempt of a summary of my thoughts is that the better I understand how representatives of congress are likely to vote and why, the more likely I’d be able to sway their decisions before their votes are solidified and the bills even get to me.
Something along those lines.
So: Learn … history? Better yet, recruit a lot of people with deep historical knowledge throughout the states and industries. Learn and practice negotiating.
Feels like a theme is already emerging.
The President is Commander-in-Chief.
The military functions on leadership/ commander intent. The president is the commander-in-chief, i.e. the singular individual with ultimate command of the military. Congress may declare war, but the president decides how to wage it.
War is kind of a big deal. It comes with heavy demands on resources and has compounding global effects. It destroys life and property.
When war must be waged, care ought to be taken to minimize suffering and time to resolution of conflict.
Looks like this boils down, again, to gathering a lot of knowledge that isn’t possible for one person to contain and parse, as well as trying to make decisions with other people that may have conflicting perspectives…
The President deals with foreign affairs.
The President is Head of State.
The President is a global leader.
I think my takeaway is that I need to (1) learn how to make smart friends in diverse fields, (2) learn how to build teams, and (3) learn how to negotiate.
72 Airman's Writings 