An Open Letter to the President of the United States
- Aug 11, 2011
- admin
- Entrepreneur, Investing
Dear Mr. President,
It may be said objectively that the events of the past week have humiliated our great nation.
I can’t think of anything that could wound the pride or degrade the character of the most powerful nation on earth more than having our debt downgraded.
Hardly a day has gone by when we haven’t read or heard a report of some third rate country lecturing us on how to manage our finances. Every time it happens, our respect around the world is diminished.
I can’t imagine how bitter of a pill it is to swallow to have our nations debt downgraded during your watch. It is a scarlet letter you will have to wear for the rest of your life.
But there is nothing you can do about that now. The past is the past. What this country needs is for you to focus on the future.
America stands at the crossroads of history today – not only for ourselves but for the ages.
The financial decisions you make as a leader right now will not only determine the future of America, but the future of peace and freedom in the world for the Twenty First Century. They will also determine your place in history.
To that end, I humbly submit the following suggestions as a fellow citizen of this great nation. Please know that I submit these suggestions with the best intentions.
Although I didn’t vote for you, and have a different philosophical framework to governing, I am an American first. And I make this suggestions because I think they’re in the best interest of America.
As I believe leadership is, at essence, a question of trust, the suggestions below are designed to help you regain that trust.
1. Accept Responsibility for the Economy
To regain the trust of the American people, you have to once and for all accept complete and total responsibility for our current economic situation.
Without doing this you will have zero chance of leading us out of this mess. The sooner you accept this, the better off we will all be.
Consider Alan Mullaly, the successful CEO of Ford…
He leads the only automobile company that did not accept government aid. And he “inherited” a total mess as big as any in corporate history, but he had a strong plan, communicated that plan relentlessly and turned the company around.
Where would Ford be today if he spent his time complaining about the unions? Or about prior management? Or international competition?
Ford would likely be bankrupt without his leadership, just like GM and Chrysler.
All great Presidents in our history have come into office during times of turmoil. In fact, it’s the very way they handle this turmoil that gives a leader the opportunity to be great. Without it, they have no great challenge to rise to, and overcome.
(Bill Clinton would have died to have the opportunity to lead his country through darkness and go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents).
Lincoln didn’t blame Buchanan for the 13 states that left the union upon his election. As a student of history you know Buchanan is arguably the worst President in the history of our country. His actions (or inactions) helped rush our country into a Civil War…
Reagan could’ve kept blaming Carter for the economy he inherited, but he didn’t. In fact, Reagan went out of his way to thank Carter during his inauguration address if you recall.
And while Roosevelt blamed Hoover for all the countries ills during his campaign, he stopped soon after he was elected.
Roosevelt knew what time it was. He knew that if he didn’t appear to “eat his own cooking” he’d have no credibility with voters on the next go-round.
And finally, John F. Kennedy who could’ve easily blamed Eisenhower (as well as his Joint Chiefs of Staff) for the Bay of Pigs invasion; as you well know, the invasion was planned during Eisenhower’s Presidency and even approved by the old general himself.
But Kennedy was smart when he famously echoed Truman by saying the “buck stops here.”
As the head of the government, he quickly took responsibility for the decision in what is perhaps the single greatest press conference in modern history.
By boldly stating “This government will hold itself accountable for its actions,” he looked more Presidential than ever.
2. Stop Calling the Tea Party “Terrorists”
Whenever you insult the Tea Party what you’re really doing is insulting the very Americans who elected them.
Just like you, members of the Tea Party are American citizens who obviously said something that resonated with their electorate or they would have never been elected.
I know that calling the Tea Party names makes for good copy, but you have to stop it (and tell your people to stop it). It’s beneath you, your advisors (and the “liberal media” for that matter).
It’s offensive enough that fellow Americans like Maureen Dowd, Rachael Maddow and Fareed Zakara use the same terminology to describe the Tea Party they use to describe Al Qaeda (terms like they’re “hijacking” the negotiations or comparing them to “suicide” bombers).
But that’s because they’re scared and you know that.
You’ve studied the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. You know that the both you and the Tea Party are by-products of the exact same phenomenon – an utter disgust with the direction government was headed.
The way I see it, given the fact that you can’t trust anything anyone says in Washington, you should be grateful to work with people who’ve been telling you exactly what their goals were from the minute they were elected.
3. Reassure The Public that Our System of Government is Not Broken
Stop implying that our very system of government is broken. It’s very Un-Presidential. It makes people feel nervous and when people feel nervous they yell at each other and panic.
Remember, Mr. President, that our system of government “of the people, by the people and for the people,” is so strong that Lincoln held elections during a CIVIL WAR. If our system of government survived that, it can survive a little populist anger!
We both know that the government isn’t broken. It’s working EXACTLY as the founding fathers intended it to work: change has to come slowly and only with broad general consensus.
Sometimes it takes a couple of election cycles for that to happen, but that’s the way it is.
As a student of history you also know that there is tons of precedent for the wave of anti-government sentiment that hit the House of Representatives.
The House does, and is supposed to, represent the most “emotional” or “populist” aspects of the electorate. That’s why they’re considered the “lower house” in most countries and why they have to face the electorate every two years.
Just as quickly as anger brings a House Representative into office, it can take them out of office during the next election if they don’t listen to their voters.
In other words, their fate will be decided during our next election. If they overreached, their voters will likely oust them from office; if not, they’ll likely get re-elected.
If that’s not a system of government that’s working I don’t know what is.
4. Stop the Regulators from “Investigating” S & P
New York opened an investigation into S & P this week. I hear other government agencies are close to doing the same.
I hate S & P just as much as the next person. And like you, I hold them responsible for a large part of the housing crisis.
But in a free country based on laws, you send a chilling effect down the spine of people if you don’t defend their First Amendment right to free speech.
We all know you feel under siege. We know that you feel like you’re fighting a five-front war.
But attacking one company makes you seem Nixonian – small, peevish and petty.
“Chicago-style” revenge politics is not appropriate for great statesman.
Attacking free enterprise for exercising their Constitutional rights – especially after giving you advance warning – will send a chilling effect across the country that whomever speaks against you will get punished. And that’s the last thing this economy needs.
5. Stop “Leading from Behind”
I understand why you didn’t put out a debt reduction plan: you figured you’d let the Republicans eat each other alive and you’d be the last man standing.
Had this not been the most important issue of our generation, I’d say it was smart politics. Politics 101. I get it.
But what may be a good bet in politics was a bad bet in leadership and the move clearly backfired.
You ended up looking like a politician instead of a statesman. And right now what this country needs is a statesman.
Whoever in your administration coined the phrase “leading from behind” should be fired. You don’t make history by leading from behind. It simply doesn’t work that way.
This country needs (and deserves) and man with a plan. This country needs a leader with a vision for the 21st century.
Instead, we feel like we’re debating the same old tired 20th century ideas that have been debated over and over again for years.
Mr. President, as you learned when you were elected, people want desperately to believe. They are dying for real leadership.
6. Hit the “Refresh” Button with America With a Press Conference
Start by admitting your mistakes. Own them.
Remind folks that you came to Washington to change the tone. Tell America that anyone who works for you that refers to the Tea Party as terrorists will be fired immediately, and follow through. Put out the word in the media as well. People will follow you. (Smart politics would be to meet with them).
Explain how proud you are of this truly great country. We’re in the middle of the most healthy debate on the role of government we’ve had in decades. This is representative government at work. Americans should feel proud of it, not ashamed of it.
Remind voters how much power they have. The 2012 election is really going to decide the answer to the question of the role of government. That means we, the people, have the power in our hands.
And finally, lay out the “American Exceptionalism Recovery” plan. And then hit the road and make your case Clinton-style.
Look, the 2012 elections will determine your fate. At least this way if you lose you go out swinging. And nobody can ever fault you for that.
-Dylan Jovine