In Your PRESIDENT?

I’ve encountered a startling number of people in recent weeks who say they are voting for Joe Biden despite the fact that he isn’t “exciting.” These same people are invariably excited about kicking Trump out of office, and Biden is the only available option.

I can’t help but wonder what such people are thinking! 

“Exciting” is about the last word I would use to describe what I want in a President. It may be exciting to BE President, and the deeds and misdeeds of a President might stir excitement, but I can think of dozens of words describing traits I’d rather see in a President than “exciting,” including:

COURAGE, JUDGMENT, EXPERIENCE, WISDOM, EMPATHY, SAVVY, ENERGETIC, HONEST, ARTICULATE, FAIR, KIND, CURIOUS, UNIFYING, COMPETENT, PATIENT, COMPASSIONATE, HUMOR and INSPIRING…

I do not think it is a good idea at all to have an exciting President. Excitement leads to exaggeration and often stimulates actions that are contrary to the public good. Wars are often sparked by excitement that overwhelms judgement, at the cost of human lives.

I do think there is one word that comes closest to capturing the qualities we should desire in the person who holds our highest office: LINCOLNESQUE – a new word in dictionaries presumably meaning like Lincoln.

Even TRUMP allows that Lincoln was his better!

Lincoln encapsulated all the words we want to use to describe a President in one word as well as an amazing and visionary leader who defied all odds and saved our country. In many ways, our next President will be tested to do the same.

Today, few might call Biden “Lincolnesque,” and none of Lincoln’s contemporaries did, either.  

It works for me!