The U.S. Presidency

According to Thomas A. Hollihan in Uncivil Wars: Political Campaigns in a Media Age,

A strong presidential candidate can even influence the outcomes of their elections, as others seek to attach themselves to the president’s ‘coattails’. In some cases a political era even becomes known by the impact of a particular president’s style, public personality, and public discourse (22).

Like Hollihan said, there are many things that American’s look for in a prime candidate for presidency, and these traits are usually what define a president’s term or terms in office.

Each president is memorable for their own reasons. George Washington is remembered for the myth that he cut down his fathers cherry tree, Abraham Lincoln is remembered for ending the Civil War while he was in office, John F. Kennedy and his administration, during and after his time in office, were known as Camelot. George H. W. Bush is known for being in office when 9/11 occurred, and as a result starting two wars, one of which he did not have enough evidence to start. Finally, Barack Obama, who was recently elected, was known as the “Yes We Can” man during his campaign, and he will be remembered in history as the first African American president that the United States has ever had.

Although each president discussed above, and the other 39 that the country has seen in office, have distinct personalities and memorable terms in office, the office of the president is known as a very special position for someone to hold. The president is a person, whom many citizens do not know personally, who we elect to lead our country and expect to make the right decisions. Hollihan states:

The president is not only the ‘commander in chief’ of the world’s most powerful nation, but he (and someday she) also represents how we conceive of ourselves as a nation. Our president’s are the embodiment of our national identity, in no small part because they have an opportunity to shape and sometimes reshape that identity (23).

The goal of the voting citizens of the United States when it comes to election season is to determine who they think will best do the job of steering our country in the right direction if it is off track, or keeping it going in the right direction if it is doing well. When the majority of the nation determines who they think best fits the job of the presidency, that person then has been elected, and in a few months time will be the occupant of that strange shaped office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in our country’s capital city.

The question that arises for some is what happens when the person we elect to the presidency does not end up living up to our expectations as a nation? Who takes the blame for that? After all, the majority of the voters in our country are running blind when they determine who they like for the presidency in any given election. Very few people know these presidential candidates personally, so when a voter decides that they like a candidate, it is based on an image that the candidate and his or her campaign advisor's have created and maintained. These images are created in order to get the vote, and do not necessarily represent the true persona of the candidate.

When voters elect a president who ends up being a disappointment, there is the decision to have that person impeached. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary online, impeachment is, “the presentation of formal charges against a public official by the lower house, trial to be before the upper house” (dictionary.com). Though rare, impeachment has occurred, and in one case has lead to the resignation of a president. President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and after he violated the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson was the only impeached president to be removed from office as a result of the impeachment. The only other president to be impeached was President Bill Clinton. Clinton was impeached in 1998 for perjury, in particular, lying to a federal grand jury. Clinton was also impeached for obstruction of justice which included sexual harassment and abuse of power. Although he was impeached, President Clinton was not removed from office and continued his second term until it was up in 2000. On a side note, President Richard Nixon resigned because of waning political support and the knowledge that he would most likely be impeached.

Even though some presidents have failed to meet the expectations of the citizens of the United States, the president is the one that the country turns to in a time of need. According to Hollihan,

In times of crisis or calamity, this presidential role becomes even more significant. For example, in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the American people, and indeed people around the world, waited in anticipation for a statement from President Bush that would lend some meaning to the events and suggest a course of action (24).

What the country, and the world needed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was some reassurance that the culprits would pay for what they did. President Bush’s reaction a few months later was to enter Afghanistan with strong military forces and hunt down all members of the Taliban regime so that American’s could have justice against the terrorists that killed thousands of people in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. The goal was to find Osama Bin Laden who was the mastermind behind the attacks. Seven years later we are still looking for Bin Laden, and the military will most likely continue looking for him for a long time to come.

The office of the presidency is a huge job to take on. Being the president of anything requires many different skills and attributes, but being the President of the United States is not just for anyone. As Roderick Hart, and expert of presidential discourse said,

When most ordinary American’s speak, they speak in behalf of themselves or, at most in behalf of their friends, families, and work associates. President’s, in contrast, represent the viewpoints of the abstract entities—their party, the administration, government itself, the Western alliance (24).

The job of being the President of the United States is a unique position in which not many people are cut out for. However, when the voting citizens of the country elect a president, they are putting the future into that one person’s hands. Although the President is critiqued on a daily basis for not performing the way some people think they should, citizens should remember that being the President is a very hard job and the current president, whoever that may be, is attempting to do the right thing for 307,212,123 people. Not an easy task to take on if you ask me.

Works Cited:

Hollihan, Thomas A. (2009). Uncivil Wars Political Campaigns in a Media Age. Second Edition. Boston, MA. Bedford-St. Martin.

Merriam-Webster English Dictionary

2007 Definition of Impeachment. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/impeachment. Retrieved September 30, 2009.