December: Obama’s Historic Victory

2008 Presidential Election Coverage

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Listen to the acclaimed presidential historian Robert Dallek comment on the 2008 election. In this final installment, Dr. Dallek discusses the historic nature of this election and how Barack Obama won.

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2008 Election Blog

Commentary by Robert Dallek, Ph.D.
November 5, 2008

The Result

The election is over. Barack Obama has been chosen to serve as the country’s next president, and he will have to confront the many challenges that go with the office. He will certainly need to take stock of what he can do about the faltering economy and the foreign crises he will address in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and between Israel and the Palestinians, to mention just the most obvious problems. However, he might also do well to consider what has gone into the making of an effective presidency.

The most successful presidents have been those who had a compelling vision of where they wanted to lead the country; who understood that pragmatism or flexibility in dealing with problems was vital to finding solutions; that ordinary people needed to feel that the president had a personal interest in things that mattered them; that consensus in a fractious nation was essential in allowing a president to assert steady leadership; and that trust or credibility was equally important in maintaining a president’s capacity to govern.

There are numerous examples of how each of these factors have served past presidents.

Successful Presidents

Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal, Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, John Kennedy’s New Frontier, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, and Ronald Reagan’s Reagan Revolution are compelling instances of how successful presidents drew the public to them with slogans that conveyed a sense of the long-term future they wished to put in place for the nation. The catch phrases, however general, conveyed something concrete to the respective publics of each president’s time.

All of the above presidents were highly flexible in working to implement their vision. As one example, someone called FDR a “chameleon on plaid,” by which he meant that Roosevelt was forever changing form and coloration while enacting his New Deal. Roosevelt described the New Deal as a series of experiments and himself as a quarterback on a football team who would try a play and if it didn’t work, use a different one. Reagan, for all his identity as a conservative ideologue, had a powerful pragmatic streak. After calling the Soviet Union an evil empire, he seized upon the rise of Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to hold four summit conferences as a way to promote détente and dissolve the Soviet Communist state.

The most successful of our presidents have also been the most memorable and engaging personalities. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln have come down to us as men of exemplary character with whom the mass of Americans can still identify. Among the modern chief executives, Theodore Roosevelt, his distant cousin Franklin, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan are all remembered as great communicators.

Nothing speaks to the point better than the anecdote about the woman who stopped Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin’s wife, on the street after FDR had died to say, “I miss the way your husband used to speak to me about my government.” Truman’s victory in the 1948 campaign rested in significant part on his ability to ingratiate himself with voters far more effectively than his Republican rival, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Truman’s whistle stop campaign across the country from the back of a train put him in touch with voters everywhere. By contrast, Dewey came across to voters as distant and aloof. He was described as the only man who could strut sitting down and as someone who looked like the bridegroom on the wedding cake.

Public Trust

Every successful president relied on a national consensus to move ahead with their programs. When popular support for the Korean War collapsed during Truman’s term, he lost his hold on the public and his ability to lead. Likewise, Lyndon Johnson’s approval rating plummeted and he had to give up running for another term in 1968 when divisions in the country over the Vietnam War shattered his popular appeal.

A president who loses the trust of the public is a lame duck, or leader without a following. Johnson’s “credibility gap” during the Vietnam War was ruinous for him. “How do you know when LBJ is telling the truth?” was a Washington joke of the time. “When he pulls his ear lobe or rubs his chin, he’s telling the truth. When he begins to move his lips, you know he’s lying.” The day Richard Nixon had to tell a press conference, “I am not a crook” was the day his hopes of being an effective president ended.

There are lessons here Obama could find useful in the difficult days ahead. They could make a difference in helping him achieve a successful presidency.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Summarize What qualities to successful presidents share?
2. Compare and Contrast From what you have seen from Barack Obama so far, what qualities does he share with the presidents mentioned by Dr. Dallek in this article?
3. Form and Support Opinions What is the biggest challenge facing President-elect Obama?