© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
“When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers.” – Colleen Barrett
It was a worldwide event, the celebration of a new president and the passing of power from one leader to another. Many Americans stopped what they were doing and attended either in person or from some media. It was our human spirit of hope on display.
Then the lights went down, the street sweepers bagged the confetti while the inauguration tents were folded. It then became time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We can only celebrate so long and then the need for leadership reasserts itself and our leader must act.
Like with every newly elected leader of our country, President Barack Obama is at the end of his troubles… the beginning end. Every president’s first week in office starts with the thrill of inauguration and then the reality that it is now time to lead. I am sure that President Obama has a much better idea about the risks this nation faces than he did a year ago.
The possibilities are limitless, as are the challenges. This man could be the very best president this nation has ever had, or the worst. If I had to bet, I would bet in the middle. But it may be several decades until we really know the Obama effect on our nation.
The only thing we know for sure is that President Obama is **OUR** president and, as such, we look to him for leadership. Each president has taken his place, and the clock starts ticking. In four or eight years, a new president will take over. It is like the old saying, “A hundred years from now? All new people.”
Now the real race begins
So it is this week that the clock started ticking on the Obama presidency. The problem is we have just ended four years of a presidential campaign as if that was the be-all and end-all of the situation. It was not. That was just getting the track shoes on. Now we must run the race.
We must remember the human side of each president. There is a story about John Kennedy when he and his brother Bobby walked into the Oval Office the first time he was president. He said that they felt like they were boys sneaking in and would be caught and removed shortly.
No matter the esteem we hold for our new president, it is critical that we recognize the presidency as a learn-as-you-go job. No one, even first president George Washington, came prepared to do the job. Each had their own crucible where the challenges and the solutions were mixed for better or worse. Mostly we need to be mindful that the success of each president came with time and reflection, not instantaneously.
Abe Lincoln was not very good as a president his first day on the job. Situations and his personal abilities intersected to elevate Lincoln to greatness. He had one of the lowest possible poll ratings during his presidency. One time he said that, at that moment, even dogs went to the other side of the road when he passed.
The clock is ticking
Lincoln endured, as did our nation. Our 16th president could not have predicted where the long journey would take him and the challenges he would face when he journeyed from Springfield to the national capital for his first inauguration.
We Americans need more leaders actually working to make things better and fewer sitting on the sidelines talking politics. The heavy lifting of solutions must begin if we are to lift ourselves from that which endangers our nation.
Every day I will pray for our leaders that they can find within themselves that which we as a nation need. In the movie Apollo 13 there is a great moment when astronaut James Lovell says at blastoff, “The clock is ticking.” It is.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.