504: Discussion Board: Qualities of a Great Leader

QUALITIES OF A GREAT LEADER
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Qualities of a Great Leader
Introduction
Ronald Regan was the 40th president of the United States. He rose to power in 1980 after serving in the film industry for the better part of his life and he got involved in politics at the age of fifty four years. He was born in a humble family and the fame he made in entertainment industry laid a good foundation in his rise to the helm of power in the United States. As many political leaders, he had some leadership attributes that made him to be among the greatest stateman to have ever graced the American history. Aristotle described stateman as someone who transforms wisdom into action that benefit the majority and Reagan did not fall short of this description. Moreover, a leader like Winston Churchil also possessed these attributes of a great leader though he came from a rich background that made him to rise to be the Britain’s prime minister. Finally, there was also Marshall, he did not excel in academics but did well in the military. This made him to be named the secretary of the state. His strategies led to the birth of a new Europe after the second world war[Steven, Hayward, F. Greatness: Reagan, Churchill, and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006. PDF file "Greatness, Chs. 1-5", 17]
Attributes of a Great Leaders
During his leadership, Reagan was firm in his decision which he believed were right no matter the pressure, he stack to his views. His firmness and imagination were viewed by some of his critics as stubbornness. For example, in 1977 Reagan opposed Panama canal treaties which could have made U.S lose sovereignty of the built canal to the Panamanians. His decision attracted a lot of criticism from all quotas and led to a split of his political party, thus losing his legislative battle. His firm decision helped him secure the seat in the presidential election in 1980, which he could have failed miserably if he had adopted Panama treaty. In addition, his firmness in decision helped him stand on the policy of Latin American. His firmness made leaders like Barrack Obama to be firm, for example, his decision to close the Guantanamo bay camp. Regan was a good orator, even though he was not that eloquent, but he used his plain and direct communication to woe and convince his listener to adopt his views. He used to take time and re-read his speech before addressing the citizens. As Martin Anderson stated that his speech looked like casual and spontaneous, but they were well written and researched. His vibrant communication skills helped raise the hopes of the American citizens who felt that their dreams were shattered. For example, in 1980 after assuming power, he said " we are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. This helped him to build the economy of the united states and make it strong as it is today. A current leader in the USA has used this skill to convince the masses to adopt his ideas. For example, in his first speech after the election, he said we have a dream and this made him transform the perception of American people. Statemen are one that delegate power and duties to their subordina...