Have we had a President that was an Elder Statesman, as the founding
fathers wanted, in recent memory? Before we begin, let me define what an Elder
Statesman is:
An Elder Statesman, in my opinion, is one who is above the
fray, one who is smart, has a professional demeanor (this is subjective and I
am using it in the STRICTEST sense), and can communicate with other nations and
be taken seriously. My gold standard for this—and we are NOT talking policy at
ALL here, just the above criteria—is Colin Powell. I can link (and probably
will) to so many times where he’s been attacked by Cheney since leaving office.
Not once did he ever attack Cheney himself. Sure, he’s told Cheney he’s an
idiot—but that was by attacking his argument, not his person.
Let’s begin, shall we?
Ford—no, he fell down stairs a lot, and pardoned someone who
was almost assuredly a criminal. This fails the appearance/demeanor part of it.
Carter – not at all, fails all three. Read his book “Palestine:
Peace not Apartheid” for information why… how can you be professional if your
own book doesn’t have footnotes. That, as well as the whole “Dial a President”
thing and appearing in cardigans and not a suit…
Reagan – serious? Yes. Smart? Sure. Above the Fray? Not
terribly. Demeanor seems to fail here, but I’m ot sure why. He COULD have been
one, but it is difficult to tell, having not been alive.
GHWB – yes, but his demeanor failed him. To broadcast
himself on Saturday Night Live is an automatic disqualifier (yes, he did have a
message sent to the show by him and aired).
GWB – no on demeanor, yes on smart (to a degree), no on
being above the fray.
(Bill) Clinton – no on demeanor, yes on above the fray, iffy
on smartness (he did lie under oath). Communication/being taken seriously by
others? No.
Nixon – I’d give him a yes on everything up until Watergate…
and then it’s downhill from there.
Obama – yes on communication, yes on smartness, no on
demeanor (See: his singing videos), no on above the fray.
Conclusion: There has been NO “Elder Statesman” that fits
the criteria that I am looking for.
Reagan was definitely a statesman, and certainly old enough to be an elder. I was there.
ReplyDeleteGHWB too. Saturday Night Live was must-see-TV at the time. Appearing there was the equivalent of going on John Stewart's show today. Just an attempt to appear less of a patrician and appeal to the vox populi.
I'll ask again, since you didn't answer the last time. Where is your class? I thought you were bringing a group of young debaters from FB out here into the blogosphere... ??? ◄Dave►
Well, that was the idea... but it never happened :/
DeleteThe other idea was to have bloggers such as yourself and others come here and respond to it on their blogs... but that hasn't happened either >.<
As to GHWB: Would you characterize SNL as something the Founders would have even bothered with, though, or would they have considered that to be "below" an Elder Statesman?
ReplyDeleteAs to Reagan: Okay, I can see you point. There was something about the way he presented himself that I just didn't like (From what I've seen of him. Granted, a lot of that is soundbites and I wasn't born then...).
If you go way back to John Adams... passing the Alien and Sedition Acts doesn't make him an Elder Statesman, either, in my opinion.