Secrets of great presidents

Pulitzer-winning presidential historian and former White House staffer Doris Kearns Goodwin captivated the standing-room only crowd at this month’s Idaho Humanities Council dinner. Her intelligence, wit, and insights into several of America’s greatest presidents are especially apt right now, as Americans ponder what’s most important in a leader.

Here’s Goodwin’s perspective, taken from her IHC lecture Sept. 8 and her oft-reprinted article, “The Secrets of America’s Great Presidents.”

1. They’ve conquered themselves with courage.

A president needs the ability to withstand adversity and motivate himself in the face of frustration. Lincoln’s determination to rise above the poverty of his birth, and his initial political losses; Roosevelt’s crucible of polio, leaving him a paraplegic at 39. Great leaders emerge from their ordeals with greater concentration, controlled intensity, self-knowledge, and understanding of others.

2. The self-confidence to forge relationships

Good leadership requires surrounding oneself with people of diverse perspectives, who can disagree without fear of retaliation. Good leaders take criticism with grace, and use it as opportunity for growth. The ever-courteous, but tough, Lincoln placed his three chief rivals for the Republican nomination in crucial positions in his Cabinet, and filled other top jobs with known Democrats. His Cabinet sessions were fiery affairs, but they provided him with a wide range of advice and opinion. Similarly, FDR created a coalition Cabinet with unsparing critics of his New Deal. He chose as his Army chief of staff a straight-talking general who openly disagreed with him.

3. Learn from mistakes

Successful leaders are willing to acknowledge and learn from mistakes. Lincoln, a big letter-writer — whether or not he actually sent them — wrote memos incorporating the lessons he had learned, including their associated pain. When the New Deal didn’t work, Roosevelt created a new one built upon those lessons. True confidence incorporates humility.

4. A willingness to change

Conditions change at home and across the world, and presidents must respond. Great leaders are peacemakers, flexible, and adaptive. It’s more important to be effective than to be right.

5. Emotional intelligence

A president must encourage his closest advisers to give their best, by speaking their minds while remaining loyal. Leaders must develop emotional bank accounts with others, treat them with respect and inspire their strengths. Great leaders don’t care who gets the credit, and they share the blame of subordinates.

6. Self-control

Great leaders manage their emotions and remain calm, especially in the midst of trouble. When angry with a colleague, Lincoln liked to write a “hot letter,” giving his emotions free rein. Then he would put the letter aside, knowing he would calm down and never send it.

7. A popular touch, connectedness with the populace

The best presidents have an intuitive awareness of public sentiment, a sense of when to wait and when to lead. Cramming things down a populace not ready for change often backfires, but great presidents have monitored opinion (e.g., in newspapers and conversations with ordinary people) until opposition is no longer sufficient to defeat the purpose.

And speaking of the populace, Goodwin added in her lecture that great presidents have all left a legacy of great programs.

8. A moral compass

Only strong leaders have the courage and integrity to follow their convictions when the risk of losing popular support is great. In mid-1864, top Republicans warned Lincoln that unless he renounced emancipation as a condition, the Confederates never would agree to peace talks, without which he had no chance of re-election. Yet Lincoln turned his party’s leaders away without a second thought. “I should be damned in time and in eternity,” he wrote, if he chose to conciliate the South over the slaves to whom he had pledged freedom. FDR chose in 1940 to supply England with what little America had in the way of weapons. In so doing, he drew wrath which included former supporters and his own staff warned him of impeachment if England fell.

9. A capacity to relax

FDR held a White House cocktail hour every evening, with one rule: No talk of politics or war. Guests were to gossip, tell funny stories, and reminisce to reduce the day’s pressures. Lincoln possessed a life-affirming sense of humor (he said it prevented him from weeping) and a legendary ability to tell long, winding tales. A gift for storytelling is another aspect of great leadership.

10. A talent for inspiring others

A key quality of great presidents is the ability to communicate, educate, and shape public opinion. The greats have conveyed their convictions and reasoning with stories and metaphors, with beautiful language which inspires listeners. How often we still quote the best, centuries later, to inspire our own lives.

Goodwin summarized her list with a plea to “move beyond the superficial ‘issues’ that now play too large a role in Presidential politics,” and to look closely at leadership qualities when making this important decision which will affect not only the nation, but the world.

“...With malice toward none; with charity for all...to bind up the nation’s wounds.” – Abraham Lincoln

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Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].