The Search for Leadership

Hillary Clinton tells us that America is still great but Donald Trump insists you need to elect him to make America great again.  So who is right?  I guess the answer is both depending on how you look at things. 

For some reason my mind started wandering about this whacked out campaign which eventually will have us elect a new president in November.  I was thinking about what are THE most important abilities and characteristics our next President must have.Is it knowledge about foreign affairs and the economy, a plan to fight terrorism, how to deal with racial division or somehow find a way for both parties in Congress to work together.  Of course all of the above is the obvious answer but there is a trait that’s even more  important: LEADERSHIP.

That is the one thing that I believe most of us find lacking in all of the candidates and it’s been that way for a while.  Whether it’s a Democrat or Republican, male or female the one ingredient we crave is someone with the ability to pull us together and it’s the one characteristic I can’t find anywhere. 

I am too young to remember John F. Kennedy’s short-lived presidency but history tells us that is greatest attribute was bringing many Americans together and giving them the feeling that they all had “skin in the game.”  Whether that’s true or not people rallied around him because of his leadership skills.

Leadership is defined as a practical skill regarding the ability of an individual to lead or guide other individuals, teams or entire organizations.  I would imagine some are born to be “natural leaders” while others develop the ability along the way. Regardless we are in desperate need of it and I for one can’t seem to find it from those seeking office today.  They all have some ability and clearly have plenty of followers but more than ever I feel like the next president of the United States will not have a mandate to lead but rather just be the lesser of evils still standing in November. 

Is it simply a sign of the times that we’ll likely never have an individual who we can all rally around?   Is there a messiah out there who does not have the letter D or R next to his name?  We can only dream that someone will lead us in the right direction although frankly I’m not very optimistic.