Not every President is a leader, but every time we elect a President we hope for one, especially in times of doubt and crisis. In easy times we are ambivalent -- the leader, after all, makes demands, challenges the status quo, shakes things up. Leadership is as much a question of timing as anything else. 1 And when he comes, he must offer a simple, eloquent message. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand and remember. Churchill warned the British to expect "blood, toil, tears and sweat"; FDR told Americans that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"; Lenin promised the war-weary Russians peace, land and bread. Straightforward but potent messages. We have an image of what a leader ought to be. We even recognize the physical signs: Leaders may not necessarily be tall, but they must have bigger-than-life, commanding features--LBJ’s nose and ear lobes, Ike’s broad grin. A trademark also comes in handy: Lincoln’s stovepipe hat, JFK’s rocker. We expect our leaders to stand out a little, not to be like ordinary men. Half of President Ford’s trouble lay in the fact that, if you closed your eyes for a moment, you couldn’t remember his face, figure or clothes. A leader should have an unforgettable identity, instantly and permanently fixed in people’s minds. It also helps for a leader to be able to do something most of us can’ t: FDR overcame polio; Mao swam the Yangtze River at the age of 72. We don’t want our leaders to be "just like us". We want them to be like us but better, special, more so. 2 Even television, which comes in for a lot of knocks as an image-builder that magnifies form over substance, doesn’t altogether obscure the qualities of leadership we recognize, or their absence. Television exposed Nixon’s insecurity, Humphrey’s fatal infatuation with his own voice. A leader must know how to use power, but he also has to have a way of showing that he does. He has to be able to project firmness-- no physical clumsiness(like Ford., no rapid eye movements(like Carter). A Chinese philosopher once remarked that a leader must have the grace of a good dancer, and there is a great deal of wisdom to this. 3 He should be able, like Lincoln, FDR, Truman, Ike and JFK, to give a good, hearty, belly laugh, instead of the sickly grin that passes for good humor in Nixon or Carter. Ronald Reagan’s training as an actor showed to good effect in the debate with Carter, when by his easy manner and apparent affability, he managed to convey the impression that in fact he was the President and Carter the challenger. If we know what we’ re looking for, why is it so difficult to find The answer lies in a very simple truth about leadership. People can only be led where they want to go. The leader follows, though a step ahead. 4 The British believed that they could still win the war after the defeats of 1940, and Churchill told them they were right. A leader rides the waves, moves with the tides, understands the deepest yearnings of his people. He cannot make a nation that wants peace at any price go to war, or stop a nation determined to fight from doing so. His purpose must match the national mood. His task is to focus the people’s energies and desires, to define them in simple terms, to inspire, and make what people already want seem attainable, important, within their grasp. 5 Winston Churchill managed, by sheer rhetoric, to turn the British defeat and the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 into a major victory. FDR’s words turned the sinking of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor into a national rallying cry instead of a humiliating national scandal. A leader must stir our blood, not appeal to our reason... A great leader must have a certain irrational quality, a stubborn refusal to face facts, infectious optimism, the ability to convince us that all is not lost even when we’re afraid it is. Confucius suggested that, while the advisers of a great leader should be as cold as ice, the leader himself should have fire, a spark of divine madness. A. Yet if they are too different, we reject them. Adlai Stevenson was too cerebral. Nelson Rockefeller, too rich. B. The leader must appear on the scene at a moment when people are looking for leadership, as Churchill did in 1940, as Roosevelt did in 1933, as Lenin did in 1917. C. Americans wanted to climb out of the Depression and needed someone to tell them they could do it, and FDR did. D. Our strength makes him strong; our determination makes him determined; our courage makes him a hero. He is the symbol of the best in us. E. Above all, he must dignify our desires, convince us that we are taking part in the making of great history, give us a sense of glory about ourselves. F. A leader should know how to appear relaxed and confident. His walk should be firm and purposeful.