Henry Kissinger once admitted that the realities of being Secretary of State overturned his expectations of the position. Before taking office, he saw the role as akin to being Zeus on Mount Olympus – the divine expanse of time and perspective to make wise decisions of long-lasting statesmanship. Instead, in the turmoil of relentless global crises, what he encountered was more like being an NFL quarterback on a Sunday afternoon in autumn. You had to do something fast and hope for the best before you got clobbered. Talk about high pressure? Lives were often at stake.
That insight comes back to my mind each round of presidential primaries where I live. Remember, the State Department is only one Cabinet position reporting to the White House. And it’s puny compared to the Pentagon.
Whoever wins in November 2016 will have to be able to find people who can fill these positions, and then find the time to manage their work. How can anyone possibly touch base with them even once a week, much less act with sufficient knowledge? Well, a quarterback has both the rest of the team and the coaches – plus a week to prepare and a lot of time on the sidelines, if his defense is doing its job. Not so the President, with rounds of dinners and photo ops and having to make public announcements on seemingly every news development as it happens …
I’ve seen reports on the time demands on the Chief Executive and how many of our recent examples have lived with no more than four hours of sleep a night. That’s inhuman. Period. Here’s one point where those arguing for smaller government could build their case. I’m listening.
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It shows he importance of the chief executive being a team-builder. If a President selects capable people for his/her cabinet then that is one less area to worry about. Good staff in all departments is essential or the system comes off the rails.
Can´t compare the incredible mind of Henry Kissinger with that of Clinton.
So they sleep 4 hours a day, well don´t get the job then. But here is the thing, the State Department under Clinton it has been proven to commit serious deceptions to the American public and in my opinion criminal acts, having a private server to conduct official classified “material” is criminal and that is why the FBI is investigating her and released some emails that where classified (then you will have Clinton play the word game like her husband as to what the word “is” is), which obviously won´t go anywhere since it is the Department of Justice who has to bring charges and that department is also extremely politisize, that´s the “beauty” of Obama. Transparency he said?
Plus smaller government, works well. You obviously need the basics of DOD, DOJ, DOS and others, but you can cut down on other domestic departments and programs they are doing. There is a lot of wasted money in those domestic departments, too much bureaucracy, like the IRS comes to mind. I´m sure there is waste in the ones I named for sure, specially the DOD, but since nothing is perfect better cut those domestic ones, make it simpler and more effective. Just a humble thought.