Why we shouldn't idolize the president
The presidency doesn't come with magical powers, and worshipping the office can have serious consequences
Bob Woodward at The Washington Post and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd have made something of a cottage industry out of belittling President Obama for failing to "lead," defined broadly as getting Congress to do what he wants it to. Americans are apparently receptive to this argument: In a Pew poll released Wednesday, 49 percent of respondents say that Obama is "able to get things done," down from 57 percent in January.
Well, "the theme of presidential leadership is a venerated one in America, the subject of many biographies and an enduring mythology about great figures rising to the occasion," says Norm Ornstein in National Journal. But it's largely bunk, "and I have grown increasingly frustrated with how the mythology of leadership has been spread in recent weeks." Haven't any of these columnists and reporters studied basic civics and political science? asks Ornstein:
Like his predecessors, Obama "managed to get quite a bit done" when his party controlled Congress for the first two years, says Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly. And like his predecessors — but more so, given the unprecedented lack of cooperation he's getting from Republicans — he's finding it harder to get stuff done when the opposing party controls at least one chamber of Congress. It's called the balance of powers, and it means everyone should "stop expecting this or any other president to be a super-hero," says Kilgore.
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All that may be true, says Jonathan Bernstein at The Washington Post, but it's more important to note that worshipping the presidency has consequences. "First of all, pretending that the president is all-powerful means that the press, and ultimately voters, tend to ignore the considerable responsibility that others within the system really have." Senators, House members, governors, and key bureaucrats all have power, and should be held to account for how they use it, Bernstein says:
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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