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The Water Cooler
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Obama says he made the US into the most respected nation in the world
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<blockquote data-quote="mugsy" data-source="post: 2754264" data-attributes="member: 18914"><p>Your generalization is not supportable - there have been many presidential office studies, books, etc. that show great differences between how presidents handle the office and how they manage criticism and internal policy discussions and disagreements. President G.H. Bush, for example, whatever his other faults did not surround himself with sycophants and he did tolerate free discussion until a decision was rendered. I would argue further that with folks like Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and Dick Cheney he had a wider ideological spread (albeit generally on the right) than the entire Obama cabinet does now - a cabinet which is not only left oriented politically but commited to him as a personal symbol of many things. When your boss is not just a man trying to get a job done to the best of his ability but a symbol of some greater ideological "truth" then one shouldn't be surprised that support staff start morphing into devotees and worshippers. </p><p></p><p>There is another measure that is fairly reliable - if the President relies more upon personal staff than upon confirmed cabinet officials there is a high likelihood of "hero worship" setting in because cabinet officials, whatever else you may think of the individual, tend to view themselves as servants of the people who are responsible to the President as head of government. Personal staff tend to view themselves as beholden only to the President as an individual not as the head of government. That is a very significant distinction. it isn't a 100% correlation but I think it is an identifiable trend.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mugsy, post: 2754264, member: 18914"] Your generalization is not supportable - there have been many presidential office studies, books, etc. that show great differences between how presidents handle the office and how they manage criticism and internal policy discussions and disagreements. President G.H. Bush, for example, whatever his other faults did not surround himself with sycophants and he did tolerate free discussion until a decision was rendered. I would argue further that with folks like Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and Dick Cheney he had a wider ideological spread (albeit generally on the right) than the entire Obama cabinet does now - a cabinet which is not only left oriented politically but commited to him as a personal symbol of many things. When your boss is not just a man trying to get a job done to the best of his ability but a symbol of some greater ideological "truth" then one shouldn't be surprised that support staff start morphing into devotees and worshippers. There is another measure that is fairly reliable - if the President relies more upon personal staff than upon confirmed cabinet officials there is a high likelihood of "hero worship" setting in because cabinet officials, whatever else you may think of the individual, tend to view themselves as servants of the people who are responsible to the President as head of government. Personal staff tend to view themselves as beholden only to the President as an individual not as the head of government. That is a very significant distinction. it isn't a 100% correlation but I think it is an identifiable trend. [/QUOTE]
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