Qualities for a President to Have

A college professor devised a list of qualities for assessing the effectiveness of U.S. Presidents:

1. Public communication
2. Organizational capacity
3. Political skill
4. Vision
5. Cognitive style
6. Emotional intelligence

Professor Fred I. Greenstein  mentioned these in his book, The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to Barack Obama, 3rd Edition.  Of these he said emotional intelligence was the most important quality.  Dr. Greenstein said emotional intelligence could be measured by “the president’s ability to manage his emotions and turn them to constructive purposes, rather than being dominated by them and allowing them to diminish his leadership.” [1]

President Eisenhower was disparaged by the U.S. press, but Dr. Greenstein studied him and discovered he was very effective as a president.  You can read the professor's obituary [1] to hear more about Eisenhower.  That is quicker than reading his book, The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader.

You can also learn a lot about Eisenhower by reading the book Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission by Bret Baier.  Besides describing how Eisenhower conducted business in the White House, the book gives nice, succinct biography of Eisenhower.

Encouraging good leadership is a key part of the Texas Ascendancy Campaign.  You can read related articles about leadership here:  Summary of Leadership Articles.  Our country desperately needs better leadership, and this need has been with us for years.  I started this Texas Ascendant blog back in 2008 after the financial crash of 2008 with better leadership as a primary goal of this effort.

From an individual perspective, the qualities for assessing the effectiveness of U.S. Presidents gives us ideas on qualities we might all want to include in our plans for personal growth.  From a larger perspective, as we seek to improve our pool of potential leaders we can consider this list in grooming and selecting our future leaders.

Robert

Reference
1. Obituary for Fred Greenstein: in the New York Times:  "Fred Greenstein, 88, Dies; Political ‘Psychologist’ Assessed Presidents"
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/obituaries/fred-greenstein-dead.html