John W. Dean: Predicting the Nature of Obama's Presidency

[babylonsister]

Predicting the Nature of Obama's Presidency
by John W. Dean | November 14, 2008

— from FindLaw

snip//

The Active/Positive Presidents: Barack Obama Fits This Mold

Active/Positive types not only dive into politics and government with gusto, becoming whirlwinds of activity, but they truly enjoy doing it. As Barber explains these are people with relatively high-esteem who have enjoyed success in their political careers before arriving in the White House. They are people who see productiveness as a value, and adopt styles that are flexible, adaptive, and "suiting the dance to the music."

Barber reports that Thomas Jefferson was our first active/positive president. "A child of the Enlightenment," he applied his reasoning skills to organizing the new government accordingly. He was a man of wide interests, "delightful humor," and astute political judgment, Barber notes. Other active/positive presidents Barber names are Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Jimmy Carter.

Now the good news. After observing candidate Barack Obama, and reading his two memoirs Dreams from my Father and The Audacity of Hope, I strongly believe that he is a prototypical "active/positive" president - under the criteria of Barber's analysis. For that reason, allow me to further draw from Barber's work, to highlight the portrait of an active/positive president's key characteristics - quoting Barber's analysis as follows - for it provides a portrait of the coming Obama presidency, if Barber is correct:

A conviction of capability. The President soon reaches the conclusion that despite weaknesses he knows about, he is fully able to meet the challenges of the job.

Investment without immersion. He shows a deep interest in, and strong attention to, the substance of the issues he decides to take on. He learns quickly what he needs to know and stores in memory a great deal of information he might find useful. Yet there is also a certain detachment, a distance he puts between himself and his work. He has an existence beyond his occupation. A symptom of this objectivity is laughter, at his own blunderings and those of his enemies.

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/18673

[bdamomma]

1. John Dean is great, is there a place for him in Obama's admin.

[tavalon]

2. I wonder if John Dean remembers that he used to be a Republican

and was even a member of a Republican administration, in fact, even an awful Republican administration. I have believed for many years that he has truly come to the good side and he shows no tendency towards turning back, does he?

Nice.