The Ideal President
The Ideal President
We as humans tend to look for a leader to guide us. This leader has been present since the beginnings of time in the form of a dominating male. Times change and we no longer look for a dominating male, but for someone that can help us meet our needs and necessities. We no longer look at physical strength or dexterity to choose our leader; we look at their values and mental capacity. We look for a leader that has integrity, intelligence, morality, courage, competence, conviction and commitment in order to be able to guide the rest of us. Nowadays we call this leader the president. The United States was the first country to elect the president as the leader of the country. While the other countries watched this experiment, the founding fathers discussed what powers this new leader would have the right to. According to Kenneth Janda from Northwestern University,
The delegates from the Constitutional Convention were wary of unchecked power and were determined not to create an all-powerful, dictatorial presidency.
Having just “fought a war of independence [from] Britain [and] the autocratic rule of King George III” (Janda 360), the founding fathers sought to find an individual with exceptional values to rule over the colonies. The delegates then decided to give powers to the president, but with limits and controls in the form of checks and balances. This checks and balances would act as “controls on presidents who might try to expand the office beyond its proper bounds” (Janda 361). The requirements for the presidency were established in the constitution. Article II states that in order to become president, one must be a “U.S.-born citizen, at least thirty-five years old, who has lived in the United States for a minimum of fourteen years” (Janda 361). However, the Constitution gave a vague description of the president’s duties. It was then that the worry of choosing the right candidate began. The Constitution laid out general
We as humans tend to look for a leader to guide us. This leader has been present since the beginnings of time in the form of a dominating male. Times change and we no longer look for a dominating male, but for someone that can help us meet our needs and necessities. We no longer look at physical strength or dexterity to choose our leader; we look at their values and mental capacity. We look for a leader that has integrity, intelligence, morality, courage, competence, conviction and commitment in order to be able to guide the rest of us. Nowadays we call this leader the president. The United States was the first country to elect the president as the leader of the country. While the other countries watched this experiment, the founding fathers discussed what powers this new leader would have the right to. According to Kenneth Janda from Northwestern University,
The delegates from the Constitutional Convention were wary of unchecked power and were determined not to create an all-powerful, dictatorial presidency.
Having just “fought a war of independence [from] Britain [and] the autocratic rule of King George III” (Janda 360), the founding fathers sought to find an individual with exceptional values to rule over the colonies. The delegates then decided to give powers to the president, but with limits and controls in the form of checks and balances. This checks and balances would act as “controls on presidents who might try to expand the office beyond its proper bounds” (Janda 361). The requirements for the presidency were established in the constitution. Article II states that in order to become president, one must be a “U.S.-born citizen, at least thirty-five years old, who has lived in the United States for a minimum of fourteen years” (Janda 361). However, the Constitution gave a vague description of the president’s duties. It was then that the worry of choosing the right candidate began. The Constitution laid out general
Cited: Hamilton, Neil A. "presidency, history of." Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=PRE001&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 11, 2008). Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry, Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy. 9th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. 360, 361. Petrow, Gregory A. "Presidential Leadership." Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. El Centro Coll., Dallas, Tx. 9 Apr. 2008 <http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.dcccd.edu:80/>. Vaughn, Justin S. "presidential approval rating." In Sabato, Larry J., and Howard R. Ernst. American Political Parties and Elecitions. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAPPE0010&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 11, 2008).