Clinton as a Leader

Tell us what you think is President Clinton's most outstanding leadership quality. Is there something about the way that he led that you were heartened by and were surprised about? Is there something about leadership you learned from him?

Well, I would say a couple of points. There are certain times, such as the budget of 1993, the health care effort in 1994, the effort to help Mexico through difficult financial circumstances in 1995, and his whole commitment to trade liberalization despite the opposition of his Democratic base, are all clear indications of both a vision, a knowledge of what he wanted to accomplish, and character, that is, a willingness to endure serious political risk and do things that are unpopular. The second point I would say is that he is a very gifted political figure. What that means is that he understands the necessity of compromise and he finally would rather get something done than stand for something that cannot be done. You can commit yourself to something that you would like to do and talk about it. And he does that. Because of his ability to speak clearly and in a very down-to-earth fashion, I think he can really communicate with the American people, which is another part of his skill. But I think he also understands that you don't just say, well, if I can't have everything I'll take nothing. In a sense that was health care. That was the closest we came. But in most other issues I think he was willing to compromise. And some people interpreted that to be a lack of vision. I honestly don't think so. I think there's a vision and a political ability that are at work together.

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