#8 Unifying Leadership

Certainly it is not an understatement to assert that the past six weeks have been dangerous and terrible. This weekend, as international finance ministers meet in Washington to address the credit crunch and prevent the failure of financial institutions, it seems that more and more traditional Republican voters are considering casting a ballot for Obama. I think there are several reasons why people are giving Obama a serious look- the economy, the war, the tone of the campaign and his temperament are all factors.

Yesterday my reason #7, embedded in the Buckley article, was Obama's temperament. Much has been written about Obama's cool demeanor during the debates and throughout the ongoing financial crisis. Calm and rational have been apt definitions of Obama throughout his adult life. As President his temperament will enable him to be a unifying leader. This was evident when he was Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

During his time on the Review there was much strife among conservatives, several of whom have gone on to positions in the Bush administration, and liberals. Obama's tenure is remembered as one during which people with passionate and opposing opinions were able to work productively together.

Here is a great quote from a January 2007 article in the Boston Globe. The speaker was a classmate of Obama and former lawyer for the Bush administration,

"Even though he was clearly a liberal, he didn't appear to the conservatives in the review to be taking sides in the tribal warfare," said Bradford A. Berenson....

"The politics of the Harvard Law Review were incredibly petty and incredibly vicious," Berenson said. "The editors of the review were constantly at each other's throats. And Barack tended to treat those disputes with a certain air of detachment and amusement. The feeling was almost, come on kids, can't we just behave here?"

More than any time in my adult life our country needs a leader who will unify not divide. Obama has the calm nature and the intellect to be a unifying leader. He can "cross the aisle" to unify the parties.


A recent USA Today newspaper has also written about his leadership style.