Americans used to believe in the idea that their country had a manifest destiny. Everyone was entitled to the American dream which brings the very symbol of wealth and happiness. As a result, citizens recognize special virtues of the nation and their institutions. For that reason, the Office of the President is a very important emblem for the American people. The Presidency embodies justice, compassion, integrity, humility, fearlessness, care, and leadership. These are just a few qualities that a president must have.
President Elect Donald Trump must really understand well the huge tasks awaiting him in Washington. Trump must be able to be the voice of all Americans, not only the voice of the conservative movement. He must show care and integrity to the people. President Eisenhower described America as a land of freedom; thus, the ultimate task of the President is to defend and protect freedom through the powers of the U.S. Constitution.
To begin with, Trump might have very good chances to succeed his presidency because people have very low expectations in him. Trump could easily surpass these very low expectations and achieve great things. The new president could only make a few popular decisions and significantly raise his popularity. He could do very little during his term but as long as he shows that he cares very much for America, he is likely to get re-elected. We could expect that Trump succeeds to raise his approval rate.
In addition, Donald Trump must make a strong team for his cabinet. The team has to show that his administration has experience and that this is the best team to face upcoming challenges. The new cabinet must show leadership and represent well America both on the domestic scene and abroad. Besides, Trump must trust his team of advisers and cabinet members. He has to give cabinet members several key responsibilities; successful leaders do not manage everything alone. As a result, delegation and accountability defines the success of a presidency. President Trump should show creative leadership and management by delegating important tasks to his employees. These people must get things done in an efficient and effectively manner.
Besides, the duties and role of the President is defined by the U.S. Constitution written the founding fathers. Consequently, Trump must learn how to use properly his presidential powers in order to serve well the nation. Trump will have the power to appoint judges and top government officials. The president does not need Congressional approval to make these top official appointments. Nevertheless, He should avoid making too many partisan appointments, especially ideological ones. Unfortunately, the president tends to select supporters rather than selecting people based on their merit. The president might decide to strengthen his influence by bridging political divisions with appointments of candidates of different political views. Thus, he should not be relying on mere partisanship, but rather relying on long term relationship of different political views.
He might appoint candidates of minority communities in order to better represent the population. Therefore, the president can use his power to appoint candidates of different views, ethnicity, religion, and backgrounds in order to achieve democratic and egalitarian goals. Therefore, Trump might be able to provide a very good administration by selecting the most qualified people in Washington and his team might be able to represent well the population.
Furthermore, Trump will be in charge of international relations; he will have to strengthen the U.S. influence and properly represent the U.S. on the international stage. This will be a huge challenge because most countries are worried about the Trump presidency. For instance, they do not know what to expect from the U.S. due to Trump`s radical plans in terms of immigration. As well, President Elect Trump wants to build a border wall on the U.S.-Mexican Border and he wants to deport millions of undocumented immigrants back to Mexico. Besides, foreign leaders are concerned about Trump`s trade policies in favour of protectionism. Trump wants the U.S. to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. In addition, he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to provide greater benefits to U.S. businesses. However, Canada prefers to keep NAFTA as it is and it thinks that the current deal provides great economic prosperity for the three partners. Moreover, President Trump might have to change his environmental plan to respect foreign nations need to create an environmentally-friendly world economic system.
Finally, the President must be able to make the right decisions on problems the nation is facing and to act as a symbol of integrity and unity. He must unite the people under his administration. President Lyndon B. Johnson said that "A president's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right." Therefore, the President must act wisely and deliberately in the face of complex challenges. He should seek counsel whenever he needs to and he should trust his counsellors. This would be a challenge for Donald Trump because he is highly confident and he does not often ask for advice. Still, Trump has a strong sense of self, but this quality might help him to reassure Americans when tough decisions must be made. Trump has a lot of managerial experience and he is used to make the proper decisions.
Nov. 21, 2016