Obama and Achilles – Ctd

WITH my last post (“Obama and Achilles”) still fresh in mind, I came across this observation by author and historian Stephen Budiansky. He admires the first-class political temperament Franklin D. Roosevelt exhibited as president.

Budiansky wrote:

But FDR had something that no amount of advice can instill; that lazy word "charisma" doesn't come close to capturing the essence of it, for what he had was a character and temperament perfectly attuned to the simultaneous, and almost diametrically opposed, demands of high office and of rough and tumble politics.

He had the patrician's unflappable self-confidence in himself without a hint of the pomposity of other aristocratic presidents (George Washington, a prime example); he had a hide as thick as a rhinoceros without a hint of the insensitivity and aloofness that usually accompanies that otherwise envious trait (Calvin Coolidge, a prime example); he had a sense of unshakable moral destiny without being troubled in the least by the fact that there were those who did not share his moral certainties (something that destroyed a moralist like Woodrow Wilson); he loved the intellectual details of policy without ever being consumed by them (the way Jimmy Carter or James Madison was).

And the reason FDR was such an absolutely skilled politician was that he unabashedly loved politics: he wasn't exaggerating in the least when he said, "I love a good fight."

Most of those traits apply to Obama as well – though not all. And while I stand by my assertion that President Obama does not possess a detectable Achilles’ heel, I do sometimes worry about a paradox I see in him. Unlike FDR, he obviously disdains “rough and tumble” politics as it is defined today. And yet, inexplicably, Obama plays the game brilliantly, especially when his back is against the wall. I’m not sure how to reconcile these opposing currents.

If Obama does have an Achilles’ heel, the exposure would spring from his visceral loathing of politics. Coupling that with his sometimes problematic aloofness, then a route to potential disaster is at least conceivable.

Still, I’d argue Obama faces a much rougher political world than FDR did. And one wonders how FDR would have fared in a televised 24/7 news cycle with Fox News (and its facilitators) dedicated to ending him, WWII and the fate of the free world notwithstanding.

Just something else to chew upon.