This past week, I have come to
realize that doing the politically smart thing is a lot easier than doing the
ultimately and strategically smarter thing. I have recently learned more in
depth about two specific instances in our nation’s history, one much more
modern that the other. Both of these instances involved a decision that the
president had to make, critical to out nation’s future. In one instance, the
president did the politically smart thing. In another, the president made the strategically
smart decision.
One
of the events I learned about was when President Abraham Lincoln made the
decision to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. He did this during the civil war
in order to prevent southern sympathizers from hurting the Union’s effort in
the war. He knew that with a stronger Union, the chances of them winning the
civil war would be a lot greater. On the other hand, this decision was not
politically smart because it upset a lot of people, especially the southern
sympathizers. At the time, Lincoln was on of the most hated presidents to date.
However, because he made the strategically, and ultimately smart decision at
the time, he enabled the Union to win the war, and therefore, is one of the
most well respected presidents in American history.
On
the other hand, making the politically smart decision doesn’t always make
someone a well-respected leader in the long run. I learned about George Bush’s
legacy in terms of how he handled our nation’s debt and economy, and found that
he was much more interested in pleasing the people than making our nation
stronger and handling our nation’s debt the proper way. Instead of trying to
pay off the debt, he decided to give numerous tax breaks to the people of our
nation, and signed bill after bill regarding saving people money, especially in
social security and health care. At the time, many people were incredibly
excited about these decisions because it was saving them money. However, when
it came to the time of current President Obama’s election, our nation was in a
serious economic recession, and our nation’s debt was at its highest since
World War II. Looking back now, George Bush’s presidency is not one most people
look back on in a positive light.
Based
on the decisions of these two presidents, I have come to the conclusion that
our nation puts a lot of pressure on our presidents for short term fixes, we
don’t have as much concern for long term decisions and their effects. This puts
a lot of pressure on our nation’s presidents to make the politically smart
decisions, which tend to not work out as well in the long run, instead of
making the smarter decision for our nation’s future as a whole. So now I
wonder: Is the sign of a true leader someone that can set aside all of the
pressure put on them for short term results, and make their decisions based
entirely on the long term goals of his or her nation? Is that what makes a
strong leader?
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