Reflection post, American Leadership and presidential leadership

It is interesting to see that although some goals have been the same for American leadership in the past each president has in the past 70 years chosen different methods of leadership to achieve their goals, some better than others. Truman for example used an inspirational method to not only mobilize old support but also gain new favors through the use of these inspiring speeches, such as the one which later and today still is seen as the base of the Truman Doctrine. If we look back, Reagan and more recently Obama have used these means to convey their general ideas of what the world is and should be.

This capacity to appeal to inspirational leadership has been said to be one of the key factors in Obama’s 2008 election and recently after the presidential debates, some experts have said that it was impossible for him to use the same kind of leadership because, now that he has been in office, his adversary has a bases to respond on. The leadership question is being deemed central to this new election race and as “leadership aspiring scholars” we should remember how the past displays of US leadership have been influential in presidential campaigns and terms.