Don't Let Me Down: Presidents and Character

This started with a dialog on where I stand on issues and how my views compare to the current presidential candidates. My answers to the questions on issues suggested that I was a Populist-Liberal and that none of the candidates agreed with me on the majority of the issues presented.

I made a comment that issues were not the only factor in deciding who to support and maybe less important then management and leadership skills, experience and character. And that raised the issue of character.

Is it important? And, can we make judgements about the character of the candidates?

I think the answer is sometimes and I'd like to look at some examples.

On the positive side I think it was reasonable based on the evidence to favorably judge the character of Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. I think we knew enough about them when they ran for President. Both men served with integrity and honesty.

On the other side I think it was reasonable based on the evidence to suspect the characters of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. In 1968 we knew Nixon was mean-spirited, quick to anger, ruthless and overly ambitious. In 1992 we had strong evidence that Clinton was personally dishonest in his relationships. Basically both men were liars.

Interesting parallel - Nixon and Clinton. There may be a book here. In contrast to the men of high character mentioned above they were re-elected! But in their second term Nixon's ruthlessness and ambition led to his forced resignation and Clinton became only the second president in our history that was impeached by Congress. Now, I know that Clinton supporters think that his lying under oath to a grand jury was not impeachable in accordance with the constitution. That may be so. But it was a disgrace related to his basic character faults. So both Presidencies were spoiled by their respective character faults.

Infamous quotes:

"It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is." –Bill Clinton.
"I am not a crook." - Richard Nixon

Nicknames:

Tricky Dick
Slick Willie

Last Nixon-Clinton parallel. Despite the second term failures both men have followers to this day who think that on balance they were good presidents! The idea that anyone could consider Nixon a good President baffles me. For Clinton we need more evidence. For example, how much focus of terrorism was lost due to the impeachment.

So for me, character matters. Agreed sometimes it is hard to judge but when you have evidence it should be a factor.