Motivations

It is interesting to try to get into the mind of people who are running for President (or other political office) and try to divine their motivations for seeking such an exalted status. Now lets take it as a given that anyone who wants to be President loves power and has a fair amount of hubris. Anyone without those qualities would not seek the job. Take that away, and what, if anything, is left. Now of course this is largely a judgment call, formed from a candidates history, words, and sometime just gut intuition and it is something I think every serious voter does as a way to analyze how a candidate will truly act in office. I thought it would be interesting to write out my thoughts of the deeper motivations several Presidents and presidential candidates that I remember as well as my thoughts on the two men currently running for office. I won’t provide any links or evidence to back up my thoughts, as these impressions are more ethereal than that, but if anyone has a different view, or thinks I am dead wrong, feel free to make your own observations in the comments. Jimmy Carter: I think that Jimmy Carter had (and has) a sincere desire to make the world better and a strong desire to make the world more peaceful. Ronald Reagan: It certainly seems that Reagan had strong beliefs on making America militarily stronger and creating a corporate favorable environment for business. In particular, Reagan wanted to confront, and defeat communism. Walter Mondale: Mondale seems to have bona fide classic democratic values on such things as labor unions and opposition to corporations in principle. George H. W. Bush: This is a bit of a mystery to me. The last time he competed in a primary was 1980, which is stretching it a bit for me. His presidential campaign was based upon a continuance of the Reagan legacy and his term in office was largely conducted along those lines. After Reagan had redefined the political spectrum, this pretty much made him a moderate and he governed as such. I don’t know if he was a true believer in Reagan’s policies or if he had adopted them on pragmatic grounds. Mike Dukakis: Like everyone else, my only enduring image of Dukakis is that he looked really silly in a tank. I have no idea what he was truly for behind the campaign spin. This isn’t to say that there wasn’t anything, just that I have no idea what it was, and in truth, never really tried to find out. Bill Clinton: Politically Clinton is a moderate and it is tough to find anything Political that really drove him. Certainly I think Hillary’s ambitions had an effect here, but Clinton’s biggest drive seems to be love of attention (separate from pure power.) Clinton seems to love the spotlight and for him, the relentless scrutiny of politics seems to be something that he feeds on, as opposed to many political personalities who like the power, but don’t enjoy the press and publicity that comes with it. Bob Dole: Dole seemed to me to believe in the Republican Party as much any particular principal. Perhaps this is because he has been prominent in national politics for so long. Al Gore: Al Gore seems to have strong populist sentiments similar to Walter Mondale. I remember being surprised at his convention speech in 2000 at how much populist rhetoric he brought up and how much it contrasted with Clintonian centrism. His activities since the election seem to confirm that belief. George W. Bush: In 2000 I didn’t see a whole lot of deep principles behind Bush. Perhaps the strongest motivation for him was a desire to ‘redeem’ his father’s image from the elder Bush’s loss to Clinton in ’92. He also seemed to have a core belief in reforming education, perhaps that was an influence of Laura Bush. 9/11 changed a lot of people, perhaps no one more than George W. Bush. I believe that he is now totally dedicated to defeating Islamic Fundamentalism and that this has become the defining goal of his life. John Kerry: Largely a mystery as has been noted by many others. Certainly it seems like he as wanted to be President since he was young and hobnobbing with the Kennedys. Beyond the desire for power though I can’t see anything. Perhaps I am blinded by partisanship on this though.