Jak zvolit dobrého amerického prezidenta – esej anglicky

What makes a good president?

The first question which we have to ask is – How can we define a good president? Every republic and every cultural area have different ideas and conceptions about president and their presidency. There are many points of view which we have to take into an account.  We can not compare the president of United States with very strong powers and influence and for example the president of Czech Republic or the president of Germany, Austria with almost no powers etc. It depends on position of their office in the system; we must distinguish between parliamentary systems and presidential systems. Each of these systems requires different values and qualities. Some of them can be good for U.S. president, presidents of some countries in Latin America or partly for the French president, but on the other hand they may not be appropriate for most of countries in the rest of the world.

The way a president is elected is also important, because direct election by citizens requires different approach, knowledge, qualities then election by some collective body with no choice of public affect the vote. That’s why I would like to introduce two completely different notions about good president. I’d like to start with Czech Republic and their president and shortly describe what I think about that.

From the text above is clear that Czech president is elected indirectly and the president is not the head of government and executive power. So he doesn’t need to consider making of a campaign, affecting public opinion, making a speeches etc. But he has to persuade two hundred deputies in Chambers of deputies and eighty one senators that he is the best choice for the country. But what makes him good? Couple years ago, a survey was made among Czech citizens and they were asked two questions – which qualities should a president have and what they expect from the president[1]. 50 % of respondents mentioned that the most important presidential qualities are intelligence, education, moral integrity (which means incorruptible, honest, polite and truthful), 30 % said impartiality and objectivity and also nonpartisanship what is interesting in compare with U.S. where the president is very connected with parties. And other interesting conclusion is that Czech peoples do not consider needed or necessary values and qualities such as personality, strong-mindedness, responsibility, rationality, communicativeness etc. I think that the same research in U.S. would have had completely different results, including popularity, persuasiveness, strong personality, communicativeness. And the second question asked – what they expected from the president – 43 % answered  representation of state and its interests, 23 % impartiality and objectivity and 21 % social solidarity, humanity and interests in people. All of these responses give us an idea of what the Czechs considered to be a good president. I have to agree with most of them, because our (mean Czech) president doesn´t need another skills.

U.S. President is a completely different matter. We can say that he is one of the most powerful human being in the whole world and therefore his qualities and skills should be more extensive and important then only intelligence, education or objectivity. The influence and power of the president depend on strength of persuasiveness, cooperation with your own team and also other institutes. Abilities of negotiating with opponents, choosing policy and political priorities can help to distinguish between a great president and an average president. They have to work excellently with their professional prestige and reputation. They can’t promote just any bill, whatever it takes, but also they can not avoid controversial issues. For U.S. president is very important the public image. A popular president has his way smoother. He has more persuasive power and can use public support. But also he has to try maintain his popularity. The most of his necessary qualities and skills are very similar with qualities witch should have bussines manager or CEO of some supranational company.[2] Good president must have, just like good manager, ability to get others to willingly follow. He must have clear, credible and convincing vision and must be albe to communicate this vision to citizens. Comunication must be short, clear and emotional. But I think that just talking about that is not enough, he must act, fight for the vision to come true. He also should have huge charisma, nobody wants to listen to some boring guy, who can not talk and inspire the others. President has to be full of energy and enthusiasm and very good speaker. The speech is essential skill which every good president must control.  But there is obvious fact, that a president is only one man, he can not do that on his own, without some assistance. Therefore he needs support from his team. He can have all needed skills, but without his team is not able to carry out a function well. He need advisors and consultans for individual policies and issues, stylists and specialists, who help him with dressing, personal image, teach him how to move, speak, work with camera, audience, journalist. He also need people who can manage crisis, because as I said before he can not afford to lose personal prestige and popularity. All these people are extremely important and indispensable for succes.

If we want to define who is great president and who is not, we must always take into account the context. Somebody can be very good candidate for Czech president but may not be appropriate for U.S., therefore we must be able to distinguish that on base of context. But like I said before there are some qualities and skills, which should have each president regardless of political and cultural environment and which are very similar with qualities of bussines managers or every other leader.

[1] The source of the survey viz. Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění: Jaký by měl být český president?, on-line text dostupný z (http://www.cvvm.cas.cz/upl/zpravy/100185s_PI30228.pdf).

[2] For example: HR World: The top 10 leadership qualities, on-line text dostupný z (http://www.hrworld.com/features/top-10-leadership-qualities-031908/).