In the United States, we teach our children, you can be anything. Even president.
Millions of Americans are eligible to apply for the top federal executive's job, and every four years, hundreds do. Lawyers and doctors, actors and generals, politicians and business executives. One at a time, they opt in. They raise hopes and issues and money, running campaigns until they run out of funds and support. Over time, one at a time, they opt out.
Eventually, in our national search for a president, we're left with just a handful of candidates to choose from. A relatively random few. These aren't finalists who've been scouted and screened by an executive recruiter who filters out the weaker applicants, compares candidates to a job description, and assembles a shortlist of the best and the brightest. Rather, these tend to be the most ambitious and well funded, "electable" candidates promoted by their parties and presented to us by the media, politicians who stay on message and focus on the issues that seem most galvanising to polling surveys or the media buzz. If they're also the best and the brightest, we consider ourselves lucky.
Are we hiring the best campaigner or the most qualified candidate? That's hard to say until we know what we're looking for; and the position, as it stands, is sparely defined. The rest of us - teachers, doctors, students, service workers, electricians - know what it takes to qualify for our roles and do our work. Why do we let our elected officials get by with open-ended roles and vague performance measures? They too need job descriptions, from the president on down.
Before we select our next leader, let's define the presidential position. If we make the effort to write a job description, we'll set a fair starting-point for evaluating the candidates' strengths and weaknesses. And we'll create an opportunity to ask ourselves - the hiring committee of 200 million eligible voters - whether it's time to re-evaluate our presidential selection process; or even the role of the president itself.
Here's my draft.
Wanted: a chief executive
The president is mandated by Article II of the constitution of the United States to lead the executive branch of the US federal government. Together, members of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government run the country.
With a diverse population of 300 million and an annual budget approaching $3 trillion, the United States is generally considered to be one of the world's most powerful nations. Established in 1776 and headquartered in Washington DC, the country is funded primarily by American taxpayers.
The US president will work on a four-year contract, with a possible four-year extension, at a salary of $400,000 per year plus benefits and expenses. Once elected, the incumbent must be willing to remain on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the duration of the contract. Frequent travel will be required.
Responsibilities
Embracing the spirit of America, the incoming president must vow to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. Within the framework of the constitution and the values of democracy, the president will coordinate with federal legislators to establish and carry out national goals.
As US chief executive, the president will manage the operations and people of the White House and the federal government - an imposing bureaucracy with scores of agencies and nearly 3 million civilian employees.
As national spokesperson, this leader will set the tone for America.The president will communicate national priorities and policies to American citizens and foreign nations, and will regularly report to Congress on the state of the union.
On a day-to-day basis, the president will oversee domestic affairs, international affairs, and national security.
- Domestic affairs The president will manage systems that provide Americans with the essentials of democracy and the staples of living. Minding the inner workings of America will mean directing federal policies, ensuring the well-being of the economy, and appointing people to lead agencies and preside over courts.
- International affairs The president will look beyond national borders, and manage relations with nearly 200 other countries. As the nation's chief diplomat, the president will set foreign policies, negotiate peace treaties and trade agreements, and represent the United States to the rest of the world.
- National security The president will serve as commander-in-chief of the US armed forces. Overseeing national security will mean directing military strategies and security policies, and safeguarding Americans at home and abroad.
Required qualifications
The president, says the United States constitution, must:
- Be a natural-born citizen
- Be at least 35 years old
- Have resided in the United States for at least fourteen years.
Desirable knowledge, skills, and abilities
The ideal candidate will demonstrate expertise in leadership, public service, management, international relations, and national security. He or she will also bring personal integrity, a strong sense of ethics, and the wisdom to exercise good judgment in times of uncertainty.
Leadership
The ideal candidate will have:
- A vision that inspires citizens and nations - and the ability to articulate that vision. Exceptional communication skills are required.
- The ability to attract and develop a strong team of advisors
- An aptitude for building coalitions and negotiating compromises, across parties and among nations
- The facility to assess complex situations, envision alternative outcomes, and make wise decisions
Public service
- A demonstrated commitment to public service, with clear dedication to the democratic ideals set forth in the constitution
- A deep understanding of government processes, preferably acquired through senior-level government experience
- Clear priorities and well-informed positions on national issues
Management
- Executive-level skills in strategic planning, team building, and budget management
- Experience leading a complex organisation that delivers large-scale programmes and services
- An in-depth understanding of economics; proficiency in constitutional law
International relations
- An exceptional talent for diplomacy. The president must be able to foster relationships and influence positive outcomes in international affairs
- Expertise in foreign policy and knowledge of alternative approaches to governance
- A well-grounded view of America's role in an interdependent world
National security
- A full knowledge of the structure and capabilities of the US armed forces
- Direct experience of the reality of war and military power, often demonstrated through personal military service; and of the requirements and mechanics of intelligence as a means of protecting the country and its people
Personal qualities
Finally, the candidate must have the physical stamina, strength of character, and emotional resiliency to meet the demands of a high-pressure job that could affect the stability of the country, the balance of world power, and the quality of life of millions of people for generations to come.
The hiring committee's choice
It's an enormously complex and consequential responsibility. It's a job that can't be done alone, a job no one can fully prepare for. And it's hard to predict how even the most qualified candidates would actually perform in the face of wars and recessions and partisan pressures, issues we know about now and challenges we can't yet anticipate. A law degree won't tell us what kind of judge a president would appoint to the Supreme Court, and campaign rhetoric won't tell us how a president would react to a real terrorist attack.
What kind of person would you trust with a country?
As the American hiring committee, we have our work cut out for us. We've elected democracy, a governing system that gives us both choice and responsibility. That means it's up to us, the voters, to demand the best possible presidential candidates based on the state of the union and the skills we believe will be most important in America's leader over the next four years, possibly eight. Then we must choose, and choose carefully. That's our job: to select the person who will best represent our country, manage our economy, look out for our people, and define our relationship with the rest of the world.
A job description won't make the choice easy, but it's one tool that can help us prepare to make a better decision. With the right tools and information, we can more accurately assess candidate dossiers and position papers. We can make more educated guesses. We can begin to envision what the future might be like under a different leader. We can look deeper into a candidate's character and ask ourselves, Is this person capable of running the country? Do I trust and respect this individual? Does he or she think clearly and act wisely? Are the candidate's philosophies rooted in democratic values, the core values of a nation that's becoming increasingly diverse in its makeup and its thinking?
Then, as multimillion-dollar campaigns are parsed into thirty-second television spots, we'll have a framework for evaluating our options, a way to align the job at hand with the applicants lined up for the job. And when a sitting president runs for reelection, we'll be able to pull out our job descriptions and gauge our leader's success or failure in a way that modern-day state-of-the-union addresses will not.
Of course, many of us will still vote with a gut feeling. Some of us will be dissatisfied with each and every candidate on the ballot. And even with 200 million checks and balances, our hiring committee may make a bad decision or the Electoral College may override our popular vote. But there's one thing we can count on: the job will reopen again in a few years. If we aren't happy with our leader's performance - or our system's performance - we'll be free, next time, to make another choice. Or to bring forward a different kind of candidate, a new party, or an altered selection process. Or maybe, even, to redefine the president's job.
