I am not a candidate for renomination or election.
In the course of his presidency, Obama has gone from an almost magical charismatic figure to an ordinary politician. Ordinary. Average.
In my lifetime, we've gone from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. We've gone from John F. Kennedy to Al Gore. If this is evolution, I believe that in twelve years, we'll be voting for plants.
It is a characteristic of potentates that they don't succumb to peaceful retirement. Instead, they hold power in their hoary fists as judgment and grip weaken, destroying any successors except family members.
Again, President Reagan was sort of an amiable presence out at the ranch by the last 6 months of his presidency. He had no effect on national policy at all.
I'm sad to report that in the past few years, ever since uncertainty became our insistent 21st century companion, leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control.
Through the post-war era, including the teachers’ union movement, the authority of the principal has in fact been reduced to a shell.
Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline of clearly defined political leadership.
As your organizational authority increases, your organizational IQ decreases.
If nominated by either party, I should peremptorily decline, and even if unanimously elected, I should decline to serve.
It's a considerable source of tragedy in the world that people stay in powerful jobs long past the point where they're a spent force.
