Taylor Monk

Mr. Hawkins
U.S. Government
October 22, 2015
Traits of Our Leaders
The President of the United States oversees one of the most powerful
nations in the world. This requires a huge amount of qualities simply
mandatory in a leader. However, there are a few that are more detrimental
and yet rarer than the rest. To be a President of high quality requires
conviction, discernment, and above all else integrity.
Integrity is an insurmountable trait mandatory for a successful and
good president. Without it, one can recognize the all-too-familiar signs of a
corrupt government and a public state of distrust. While there may not be
notable situations that maintained integrity in our nations history, there are
plenty of examples of times when the president did not retain integrity and,
as a result, caused the nation immense problems. The first and probably
most notorious situation with a lack of integrity is when President George W.
Bush stated that there were nuclear warheads in Iraq. While many, including
his self, claim that the assumption had been made off of faulty intelligence,
the evidence indicates that the Oval office made the entire thing up as an
excuse to invade Iraq. President Bush lied to the public, hoping that he was

right. This was perhaps the stupidest decision made by him his entire stay in
office. Even from the beginning, the public was skeptic of this statement and
it showed. The worse mistakes are the ones that put lives, American lives, at
risk. Thanks to a lack of integrity, the country lost over 4000 men and
woman in Iraq. The ramifications of such an action by a President go beyond
just numbers though. When the suspicions of the public were confirmed
regarding the lack of nuclear war heads in Iraq, they were outraged, and
rightly so. This action alone disintegrated what little trust people had in the
public. However, to get a better understanding of why the public distrusted
the government already one must a look a little farther back in history.
Lyndon B. Johnson falsely claimed that a Navy ship was attacked by multiple
North Vietnamese forces, allowing for the escalation of engagement and
influx of troops in the region. This merely further deteriorated the situation in
the States. There had already been mass protests over the conflict and the
younger generation was rebelling against the older. While this claim may not
have been discovered to be false soon enough to cause adverse
consequences in regards to more distrust in the government, it did give the
president an excuse to put more troops into a war that was started on poor
reasons and poorer doctrine. The American forces were already fighting
unconventional enemies, and losing because of it. The lack of integrity from
President Johnson in this one situation ended up only adding to the infamy of
the Vietnam war by costing thousands more American and civilian lives.
However, not every lie by a President has destroyed American lives, but

American trust and as a result national stability. A prime example of that is

when Bill Clinton lied about having sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky. He
probably should not have been impeached if it were on the sole fact that he
had cheated on his wife, but the fact that he lied to the public about it was a
situation considerably more diluted. Unlike many other times a President
lied, the public actually believed him. This only made the betrayal all that
much worse. Yet, when the public heard the truth they werent surprised. It
just goes to show the common perception that the government is full of
selfish, corrupt, old men. Without integrity, a good and fair government
cannot function and its people cannot make educated decisions on who they
want to lead. Without integrity, a democratic republic will fall apart, so the
nation needs a president who is as honest as Abe. Of course, integrity has
multiple facets, and there is definitely one trait that usually stems from it
that is crucial to being a President. That trait is conviction.
Conviction is in general a scarce characteristic by society. There are
the few who remain adamant about their values, even to the point of forcing
them upon other people, while the rest stand on the sidelines in fear of being
wrong or offending someone. This makes it all the more necessary for the
president to retain the trait. When someone speaks of conviction, names like
Lincoln and Roosevelt are mentioned and, for good reason. Had Lincoln
lacked conviction, the 13th Amendment would have undoubtedly failed to
pass, and we could be looking at a nation that would have at least retained
slavery for much longer, as the South did not have a say in the matter when

the Amendment made it through the House of Representatives. Instead,

Lincoln understood the importance morally of ensuring every man was free,
if not treated entirely equal at the time. He knew that there would be much
opposition from both sides, yet he retained his resolve on the matter.
Another excellent example of conviction is when President Woodrow Wilson
had the conviction to put the United States into the first Great War, World
War ll. He did this because he could not allow American civilians to be
attacked at sea any longer by German U-Boats without repercussions. It was
imaginably an incredibly difficult decision to make as thousands had already
died in the war and he knew that he would be sending thousands of
Americans to do the same. If he hadnt felt convicted to declare war upon the
axis, the war could have very well been lost and Germany along with its
allies would control almost the entirety of Europe. Not only that, but the
United States most likely would not have become the great superpower it
was and is to resist such an intimidating force. For all intensive purposes,
after conquering Europe, the Axis couldve very well moved on to seizing the
rest of the world and a lot more blood would have been shed in the end.
A trait that has been often taken for granted by the public and rarely
actually seen in Presidents is the gift of discernment. To look at a situation
and be able to figure it out with relative ease is a characteristic vital in the
leader of such a large and powerful nation. The most immediate even that
comes to mind when considering a Presidents perception into a situation is
the Cuban Missile Crisis and President John F. Kennedy. This was most

stressful situation in the nations history, and one that placed it on the brink
of nuclear war. However, with the presidents discernment, and the help of
his staff, he was able to appropriately evaluate the situation and maintain
Americas view on the point firmly without actual conflict. He knew
compromise was needed, so he conversed with Soviet leader Nikita and
solved the problem by also agreeing to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.
Had there been another President in office, or had he not read the situation
right, the event couldve quickly escalated into WWlll. In which case, there
could very well be no more America or any other recognizable land mass for
that matter. Sometimes it isnt a force abroad thats the problem, but instead
the one inside. President Franklin Delanoe Roosevelts response to the Great
Depression not only pulled the nation out of it, but helped it thrive. FDR new
immediately going into to office the severity of the situation, and discerned a
formidable response. If not for his New Deal, the nation may have never
recovered from the event and been resorted to a third world country. To think
of the United States of being as poor as places like Somalia or Iraq is a
terrifying prospect. The fact that FDR was able to respond so well and quickly
must be attributed to his ability to discern exactly what was happening and,
as a result, how to fix it.
It is apparent upon reflection what is necessary in a President. One
needs merely to look upon the great nations past, to delve into who the
great presidents truly were. Whether it is Lincoln, Washington, FDR, or
anyone else of note, they all retain qualities that you will rarely find all

together in any other presidents. For these Presidents retain the qualities of
conviction, discernment, and integrity, and thats what made them
exemplary leaders.