Does giving effective speeches make an effective president?

No

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by Rosana Modugno

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It is ridiculous to imagine why anyone would think that giving an effective speech would make an effective president.
Most of us know that even our current president Obama has a writer behind his speeches and in knowing that, doesn't that now mean he will make a terrible president? We won't know that because speeches have nothing to do with a presidency. There is so much more involved in that title and to say a speech is what holds the key is really an insult to the position of Commander in Chief.
When I think of a speech, I think of the Oscars. But does that mean their effective speeches make them effective actors? I've seen some of those movies and they weren't that good.
And what about entertainers like Conan O'Brien? He is a very effective speaker but something tells me no one would respect him as president of the United States and although I would be laughing the entire time with anything he had to say, I don't think he would know what to do if we had another terrorist attack.
Then there is the infamous Bill Clinton, who was famous for his address to the nation with this lie; "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Was he a good president? Some may actually say yes, which is astonishing to me. Not only was he impeached, he had Bin Laden's head handed to him three times but declined each time until that job was unfairly handed to Bush to deal with on 9/11. So I would have to say no, he was not a good president, only a good actor.
And what about Adolf Hitler, who drew millions of people to his side with his charismatic speeches? Would he have made a good president?
I know what you're thinking. What about Martin Luther King, President Kennedy and Ronald Reagan? We will never know what kind of president Mr. King would have made and we all know Kennedy made a good president for the time he was here. But saying he was good because of the way he spoke is disrespecting all the hard work he put into the job he did. Ronald Regan was my favorite president and he was an actor, which really proves my point here. Being president is more than reading off some lines, it's more than acting or being able to express thoughts on paper to many people at one time on a stage. It's more than charisma and charm.
Being a good president is having integrity, strength, intelligence, guts, instinct, and honesty, drive and experience, among other things. It's a job that no one wants and many have died for. It's a title that strips down your spirit, layer by layer, exposing you to enemies all over the world, testing you constantly, being on guard, looking over your shoulder when you're alone and being protective of your privacy and your family. It's a job that entails so much more than a piece of paper someone else had to write so you could look smart up there, in front of cameras and people who don't really like you, who judge every word that comes out of your mouth, eagerly awaiting your next promise and all the while knowing that there is no way you can appease every person.
Some people will not agree with me but I thought President Bush was a good president. He was handed a difficult job to begin with and did the best he could with it. He made me feel safe and for me, that is priority above all else. Providing security is a difficult job and although he was not an articulate president, fumbling with his words and tripping over his tongue, he was that quiet man in the corner, observing everyone, listening and paying attention, graciously accepting the jokes poked at him on television and never replying to any. He knew his post demanded being professional and so he was. Whether you want to agree or not, we have been safe after 9/11 because of this man and for that alone, I thank him.
Speeches mean nothing standing next to that. And $137 million dollars spent on an inaugural ball and entertainment at a time of recession is an insult. So the new president gives great speeches. Who cares?
We cannot judge someone simply by the way they express themselves with physical words. In fact, as writers, we should all know that most of us really are not that articulate in person. Our strength lies in the written word, not the spoken word.
For me, a good speaker is like the sales manager on the telemarketing room floor, ringing a bell and getting everyone pumped for the next slosh of BS. He is Tony Little selling a bike or that loud guy on television with the cleaner spray. You know whom I am talking about. You have to lower the volume every time he comes on, unless you are at your mother's house, "Oh, I love that guy. Why are you lowering the volume on my TV?"
Bottom line is an effective speaker is just that; an effective speaker. Saying that it can be anything more than that is essentially playing Cleo the Psychic, who by the way was also a very effective speaker. She had everyone fooled into believing she was from Jamaica. She wasn't completely fibbing, she just forgot to mention it was Jamaica, Queens.

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