10 Qualities of a Great President

The role of the President of the United States is one of the most demanding and influential positions in the world. A great president must possess a unique blend of skills, character, and vision to lead effectively. Here are ten essential qualities that define a great president:

From my observations of U.S. history, I would say there are 10 qualities of a great president. They are:

1. A love of our country It would be rare to find a president who truly does not love their country, but it truly should be the number one requirement for the job. This person will be a parental figure for our country, bringing counsel and comfort. They will be the example to all other leaders within our country in the way they should act. Good leaders lead from love, not from greed or lust for power. They truly love everyone in that country, and want to help bring all to higher heights. If you look at George Washington, FDR, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln, I can't think of many men who loved their countries more. All of them showed that love in their leadership in war and in peace. Because of their love of our country, they sought to move us forward 

2. Vision of the future Each president must look to the future with a clear vision of what America will become. Presidents need to look beyond here and now, seeing the vast future of possibilities and framing a future for the country. The problems they must solve are not just the current ones that are occurring, but possible future ones. Ronald Reagan clearly saw the end of the Cold War, and prepared our country for that future. John Adams knew the only way our country would be secure and truly independent of European powers was for us to have a strong military, especially a navy. Our founders understood the need for a strong but limited government of the people. Each great president's vision of the future has led us into new heights as a country, and if we work to elect another great president, we can reach higher heights than ever before.

3. Accountability and adaptability Great presidents understand that mistakes happen, and they own up to those mistakes. They also understand there is a limit to their power. Understanding that their accountability is to the people, they are open and honest about their intentions and their actions. Great presidents own their mistakes, and then adapt to meet the needs of the time. They work to make our nation better by finding ways to be better leaders.  

4. Respect Often respect is overlooked in our search for a president. When I speak of respect, I am referring to respect for the office of the president, respect for the people who have entrusted you with great power, and respect for those who disagree with you. Too often we look at political correctness as the problem in Washington DC, but in my opinion it is a lack of respect that I find most disturbing. To have respect for someone who disagrees with you means you are willing to hear them out, and consider their opinion as well. Under the Washington administration, he leaned on Congress heavily, understanding that his presidency required power from the will of the people as expressed by their elected representatives.

5. Empathy and Compassion Great presidents bring people together. They don't blame everything on the previous administration or the opposing party. They always have their eye on one single idea: unity brings us strength. We can only build a greater nation on stronger bonds of unity.

6. Courage As commander in chief and chief executive, it is extremely important that a president have courage. Every presidency has, and every future presidency will, face tough challenges with the potential for terrifying outcomes. Millions of lives will be at stake, and with that comes the need to be courageous and strong in the face of those challenges. During his tenure as president, Lincoln faced a country torn apart, and throughout all of the trials and disappointments he held us together with courage in the face of opposition.

7. Honesty In our basic social contract as a society, we must remember that honesty and integrity are essential to our survival as a nation. As we come together, we trust each other and rely on each other for security and strength. Honesty is essential to trust. Dishonesty breaks the bonds of trust that bind us together as a nation, making us weaker as a whole. 

8. Compassion On the battlefield and here at home, each president must have compassion. Compassion for the mother who loses a son away at war. Compassion for the individual who lost their home to natural disaster. They must have compassion for each individual and see them for who they are-brothers and sisters sharing this planet. As leader of the free world, our nation still shines as an example, and part of that is the compassion and giving that we have shown and continue to show. 

9. Great communicator It’s simply impossible to be a great leader without possessing the skills of a great communicator. Whether you think of FDR, John Adams, JFK, Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan, each of our great president's have been great communicators. Especially in times of trial, we have relied on our presidents to comfort us, strengthen us, and lead us forward through great speeches. Being able to clearly and persuasively articulate policies, goals, and national values is crucial for any president to unite and guide the country

10. Being a servant of the people last of all comes a reminder that they are always here to serve our country, not their own ambition. The position of president is not that of celebrity in chief, but of servant in chief. Each president should remember and respect their office. While selecting a president we should remember that this person will join the ranks of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, and Reagan.

How to Pick a Candidate to Support

Being an informed voter generally means that you have researched the candidates and issues on a ballot before voting in an election. This can take a lot of research, and can be difficult especially in local races, where up until the election you generally won't see anything in newspapers or online about candidates.

With my experience I have decided on a variety of factors I look into before I decide on which candidate I want to support.

The first is consistency, because this shows their integrity as a leader. I look at each candidate's record to see if the record reflects what they have said in the past. I do not discount anyone before I have begun the process, and I try to not allow snap judgements to guide my actions in deciding who to support.

I look at the candidate's experience in politics and the various types of roles and responsibilities that the candidate has had over the course of their business and political career. Sometimes you may want candidates with specific types of experience, such as governors and presidents.

The third thing is that I have a rather extensive list of issues that I believe in and think would be important to prioritize in order to improve society as a whole. So I check the list of issues for each candidate and I generally tend to vote for a candidate who has stated positions on issues that align the best with where I stand on various issues that important to me.

Specific to the presidential race, one group has put together the site ISideWith.com. This site allows you to answer a series of questions in order to determine which candidate matches up with you best on the issues. It is incredibly important to weight the questions based upon your feelings on the issues and to make sure to check the additional answers.

Each of us wants to leave a positive impact on the world we leave behind. We each have our own vision of how to solve the issues facing this country. The more informed we are on candidates and issues, the more I believe we will be able to move forward in the future as a country.

Politics 101: How Do Presidential Primaries Work?

 This edition in our continuing series of short articles helping our readers understand how certain things work in U.S. Politics covers how presidential primaries work.

As you may not have noticed, we now have 17  candidates for the Republican nomination for president. The Democrats have 6 likely candidates, but for most they assume Hilary Clinton will be the nominee. I encourage you to visit realclearpolitics.com to see the latest polling and information on both  nominations. I also encourage people to use the site ISideWith.com to help see where they match up with candidates on the issues.

Starting early next year the democrat and republican parties will be holding primaries or caucuses in each state to determine who will be the nominee for their party. Now, officially you are selecting delegates for your party from your state during the caucus/primary who will go to the party's national convention. Normally, however there are enough delegates which go to one candidate that the nomination is settled far before the national convention.

You may be wondering what the difference between a primary and a caucus is. In presidential nomination campaigns, a caucus is a system of local gatherings where voters decide which candidate to support and select delegates for nominating conventions. Often these gatherings will be very noisy and can last for hours. People will make cases for their candidates and try to sway voters. Eventually a system of voting commences but it is not secret ballot, your vote is known. Some caucuses will have those who support a candidate stand all together and count the numbers from each group.

A primary is a statewide voting process in which voters cast secret ballots for their preferred candidates similar to how we vote for most candidates in a general election. In most states the candidate with the most votes receives all the delegates from that state, however some states will divide them based upon percentage of votes received.

If you aren't bored out of your scull think of it this way. You're in a huge high school, you might not know everyone there so how do people decide on who should be the Homecoming king. Each classroom is given a vote on who they think should be Homecoming King. Since this is such a massive high school though, instead you decide to pick a few people from each class who really like the person they nominate. They then go to the gym and a vote is held. They aren't forced to vote for that person, but it is very likely that they will.

There are also a few other delegates as well who are deemed super delegates. These are party elders such as sitting members of Congress, former presidents and such. They make up approximately 20% of all delegates at the convention. This is to ensure the party's platform represents core values of the party.

Because of the schedule and the general momentum a front-runner gains, normally only the first month and a half of primaries really matter. This means that states like California, with it's massive population will  have little impact on the nomination, and most likely the nomination will be considered settled before it even reaches Ohio in March. Officially the nominee is determined by a candidate receiving a majority of delegates votes at the convention. However when a candidate receives a majority of delegates from the states they then become the presumptive nominee.

What does this mean? In almost every case for last half a century, it means that a candidate who enters the race late, or doesn't gain enough national attention or support by February 1st has little to no chance to win the nomination.

Certain states have firm laws on their primary dates. New Hampshire's law states that their primary must be the first in the nation. Iowa's caucus is always the first caucus in the nation. These first states have a massive impact on the nomination process. There are many who don't agree with the amount of power this affords these two states in comparison to the rest of the country in deciding the future of the country.

If you are still confused this video does a good job of explaining it:



The schedule for primaries and caucuses in 2016 for each state are as follows:
Monday, February 1 Iowa caucus
Tuesday, February 9 New Hampshire
Saturday, February 20 South Carolina
Tuesday, February 23 Nevada caucus
Tuesday, March 1(Also known as Super Tuesday) Alabama Arkansas Colorado caucuses Georgia Massachusetts Minnesota caucuses North Carolina Oklahoma Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia
Saturday, March 5 Louisiana Nebraska (Dem caucus)
Tuesday, March 8 Hawaii caucus (GOP) Mississippi Michigan
Sunday, March 13 Puerto Rico (GOP)
Tuesday, March 15 Ohio Florida Illinois Missouri
Tuesday, March 22 Arizona Utah
Saturday, March 26 Hawaii caucus (Dems)
Tuesday, April 5 Wisconsin
Tuesday, April 26 Connecticut Delaware Maryland Pennsylvania Rhode Island
Tuesday, May 3 Indiana
Tuesday, May 10 Nebraska (GOP primary) West Virginia
Tuesday, May 17 KentuckyOregon
Sunday, June 5 Puerto Rico (Dem)
Tuesday, June 7 California Montana New Jersey New Mexico South Dakota
Tuesday, June 14 Washington, DC
States with no firm dates:
New York North Dakota Utah Colorado Idaho Kansas Maine Washington Wyoming

10 Things You Should Know About U.S. Politics.

Image source: Flickr

Many people tell me they hate politics for one reason or another. They tell me they hate all of the fighting, all of the lies, how long it takes for things to happen, or all of the drama. I was born to talk politics. I've loved it all of my life, and I've followed every election closely since I was a young child. Most people are not me. I studied political science, worked on the hill, and I've worked in the political field ever since. Politics is in my blood. So I love talking politics, but not everyone does.

Even with people who like to talk politics it doesn't mean we're having great conversations. When we talk politics we often assume that the people across from us are as politically informed as we are. Sometimes they are more sometimes they are less. All of us could probably do with upping our political IQ, Hopefully it isn't as bad as the people who appeared in this video from Jimmy Kimmel live. None of the individuals interviewed were able to identify any member of Congress.



So I thought through what are 10 things you should know about U.S. politics as a citizen even if you don't really want to get too involved.
1. You should know the basics of how our federal government works. This includes the branches of government, checks and balances, who has the power to make law, implement and review it.

2. You should know who represents you in Congress. Can you name your representative, and two senators? If you don't feel free to go here to find out.

3. You should know who the leaders of the country are. You should at least know who the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and Senate Majority leader are. A few other good ones to know are the minority leaders, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and the Supreme Court Justices.

4. You should know who the Governor of your state is. It's also good to know your local leaders and try to be involved at the local level because you have the opportunity to have far more of an impact on the local level than the national level.

5. You should know before an election where candidates stand on the issues compared to you. I recommend the site isidewith.com

6. You should know what the federal budget looks like. Every spending decision that is made affects the budget, every tax cut or increase affects the budget. When people talk of spending on military, welfare etc. it's important to know what those budgets look like.

7. You need to know that your participation in society and in politics matters. The more that people are involved in society the better their income, health, and happiness. The more people are involved in politics and government especially in their community, the more ability we have to accomplish great things and move the nation forward. In fact there is a direct correlation between civic engagement and many of our problems as a country. People have lower drop out rates, lower crime rates and better healthcare as a whole. Unemployment drops and incomes rise.

8. You should know that no one has all of the answers. Listening to the other sides' opinions is just as important as listening to your own side. If you start hearing a major push for one opinion on an issue you may want to take a step back, do some research on your own and figure out both sides.

9. No one disagrees on everything. All of us have shared common ground. Even Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have common ground. We need to recognize that more and not get caught up in the things that tear us apart.

10. Lastly you should know that your vote matters. Here's a good list of times where just one vote mattered.