PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS.

PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS. Dick Weisfelder comments: “The point you need to explain is the following: ‘The American Presidency calls for executive talent more than the French or English systems.'” Dick’s comment is in response to this post and my comment. I should withdraw my reference to the French system and perhaps to the English system as well. What I had in mind was that skill at persuasion may not be as important in a President as I think it should be. The separation of powers in the US. Constitution makes the President the head of the executive branch. I often come across the observation that governors do better than senators in seeking the Presidency. Lyndon Johnson’s legislative skills were unusual in a President. Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower–even Kennedy had not made his mark as a legislator. I remember thinking forty years ago that in a Parliamentary system, Everett Dirksen would have been the shadow Prime Minister. More recently, Denny Hastert and Richard Gephardt–or Trent Lott and Harry Reid–would have been their party leaders and candidates for Prime Minister.