|
presidential
power paradigm
"great"
presidents |
Active-positive presidents are, arguably, Barber's
favorites.
They both do a lot as president (active) and enjoy their jobs
(positive)
Active-positive presidents (APs) are like any other presidents,
they can get themselves into trouble. But unlike their
other character types, they generally have the "character"
to extricate themselves from the trouble with no longer term effects!
According to Barber, APs have fun in the vigorous exercise of presidential
power!
They certainly aren't "literalists"!
They enjoy the concept of prerogative powers!
They seek out--even create--opportunities for action!!
Each of the APs generally:
1) shows a conviction of capability
(ie., they feel they are capable of handling the job)
self-confidence
2) investment without immersion
(deep interest in issues, good memory for facts,
yet a certain detachment or distance from the work
able to laugh at own mistakes (and others)
Compare an AP to an AN like Nixon
3) have a sense of the future as possible
see the future is possible,
not mastered by "technical application of principles",
but by imaginative experimentation
future grows out of trends, possibilities,
accidents, and opportunities
that a president can "respond to" and help along)
they are not ideologues but pragmatic politicians
(sound familiar?)
4) a repertoire of habits
flexibility of styles, styles as a "bag of tools"
rhetoric for the public
personal relations for "the Washington
community"
doing homework when necessary
applying the "right" style to the appropriate
audience
5) the communication of excitement
good at the "popular connection",
gives a sense that he is at the center of exciting events)
They are also presidents who try to "transcend" the interests
and speak to the needs of the larger community
(Does this sound familiar?? -- "Took the
side of liberalism versus the status quo")
As presidents, APs often surround themselves with strong, brilliant
advisers:
(FDR's "Brain Trust", JFK's "Best and the Brightest"
self-confident enough to be challenged, to argue)
Active-Positive World View:
generally very fluid
|
"...active-negative
presidents...infused a particular line of policy, drawn from his
special world view, with immense emotional commitment; the
destructive rigidity centered on matters of opinion. In contrast,
active- positive types see a much more liquid
world, a world in which realities and the opinions which
reflect them shift continually in no particularly consistent way.
The passive-negative
Presidents...are less definitely committed to particular
deductions from their world views than are the active-positives.
But, while they are more flexible in matters of opinion, they tend
to fall back on stylistic continuities, on regular pursued systems
and habits of behavior. The active- positives, in contrast, are
freer in their selections from a stylistic
repertoire.
Passive-positive
Presidents...experience their major difficulties as a result of
character rigidity and the tremendous strain of situations
pressing them to alter their characteristic habit of compliance
and affection-seeking....
|
the emphasis is on results
Barber assessment of Truman:
| "Clearly he was an
active-positive type, displaying high self-esteem and continual
enjoyment in the exercise of power. His style was flexible and
balanced: an aggressive, informal rhetoric; a penchant for soaking
up facts through study and deciding, without much theory, between
alternatives posed in either-or terms; a personal relations style
based on a strong sense of personal loyalty. His world view was
emphatically non-political--values were simple for him, not a
matter of great concern. He saw men as the makers of history,
character as the wellspring of behavior. From his inner confidence
and self-recognition he drew strength to grow in office, to
develop through learning without anxiety, as a person and as a
President". |
Truman's
firing of MacArthur:
| "When Communist
North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, the United States
entered the war with the support of the United Nations. Named the
UN commander, MacArthur hastily dispatched U.S. occupation troops
from Japan to Korea. By September he had sufficient reinforcements
to take the offensive. After a daring amphibious landing at
Inch’ŏn, he drove the invaders out of South Korea and
pursued them to the Chinese border. In effect, he had won that war
by late October, when Communist China initiated a new conflict by
sending troops into Korea. MacArthur wanted to expand the limited
war into a general war against China. In a letter publicized by a
Republican congressman, he criticized the policy of his civilian
and military superiors and advocated a change. For this reason
President Harry S. Truman relieved him of his command in April
1951".
MacArthur, Douglas," Microsoft® Encarta®
Online Encyclopedia 2002
|
a very unpopular move (MacArthur receives a ticker-tape
parade in NYC)
and before a joint session of Congress ("old
soldiers....)
Character and Greatness?
Active/
Positives:
F. D. Roosevelt, Truman,
Kennedy, Ford, Carter, Bush Clinton
|
Passive/
Positives:
Taft, T. Roosevelt, Harding,
Reagan
|
Active/
Negatives:
Wilson, Lincoln,
Johnson, Nixon
|
Passive/
Negatives:
Eisenhower
|
Red = Great
Blue = Near Great
|