The Presidency: Job Specs for the Oval Office

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opportunities of the first twelve to 18 months and the special learning-curve problems of these same months.

A President must offer the country vision, and he must animate his Administration with purposes larger than the enjoyment of office. A visible zest for the job is perfectly legal, even desirable. But the love of the job can contribute to a certain blurring of the national interest and the personal interest. F.D.R. doubtless convinced himself in 1940 that it was for the good of the nation and the world that he should be the first three-term President. It would be refreshing some time to hear a politician admit he wanted to be President simply because it is the top job in his business. (The motivation of J.F.K., Nixon, Carter.) But it is not an auspicious basis for a presidency. It suggests a lack of idealism and of a coherent political philosophy. Reagan and L.B.J., whatever their shortcomings, must be credited with a vision of using the presidency for the country. Walter Mondale puts it this way: "The candidate must know the mandate he wants from the people, and they must understand the mandate he is asking."

The President's political philosophy needs to be earned, hammered out in some detail, tested intellectually and in experience. It is good for the stability of the country that the American center, which is essentially where we want our Presidents to be, is so spacious. But there are drawbacks in this vast and vague consensus; presidential candidates and Presidents can evade the hard work of thinking out policy specifics and confronting the harsh choice between two good things.

As to the roots of a President's philosophy, a religious affiliation is necessary for a major-party candidate, but is religious conviction necessary in a President? Certified historians and political scientists shy from such an embarrassing "value judgment." But the voters know they would not want a nonbeliever President, and their instinct is correct. It has been settled that a Catholic can be President. The droll Bob Strauss goes about asking whether the country is grownup enough for "a Texas Jew."

The President must be a communicator. Reagan, by general agreement, is the best since F.D.R. Indeed, for a time in 1981, when he had Congress eating out of his hand, it seemed as though mastery of TV and one-on-one charm had become the very key to the presidency. Events and realities of 1982 suggest some limits on what a President can accomplish by communicating. TV is still a major resource for a President, more important in governing than in getting elected. Carter, Nixon and L.BJ. all won elections (two of them landslides) without being compelling TV personalities. Nixon was excellent on radio. L.B.J. was an overwhehning persuader close in, a gripper of elbows, clutcher of lapels. We have not had high presidential eloquence since Ted Sorensen was writing for J.F.K., though Ford (speechwriter: Robert Hartmann) came close at times, and Reagan, a heavy contributor to his own speeches, can be forceful and moving. The arts of presidential communicating should also include a sense of when to keep quiet. No recent outstanding examples.

For his own sanity, a President needs a sense of humor. Reagan and J.F.K. get high marks, Ford soso. Carter and Nixon each had a lively wit, on the biting side, but never developed an attractive way of