Why Personality Matters

Well, I’m back to writing opinion pieces for the campus paper. Here’s my first submission for the semester:

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Every time an election rolls around, I hear a familiar complaint: “Why does the media focus so much on the candidates’ personal lives and personalities? They should just stick to the issues!” Analysts and pundits alike scoff at the notion of voters basing their choices on which candidate they’d like to have a beer with, also stressing that one’s choice in political candidate should be based wholly on policy stances. I can understand why people are frustrated about the media’s apparent fixation on frivolous personal details of politicians, especially in our current post-Lewinsky political climate. But we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater; personality can and should be one of many important factors we must consider when choosing an elected official, especially in the case of the president.

 

            One of the most important functions of the president is to serve as the public face and voice of the nation. More than anyone else, the president shapes foreign nations’ perception of the state of our government, and is expected to firmly lead the country in times of war and peace. Regardless of a candidate’s knowledge of domestic and foreign affairs, an ineffectual and indecisive personality will negatively impact their effectiveness in achieving their goals. Jimmy Carter, who was incredibly intelligent on the issues and public policy but proved too weak of a personality to accomplish much of anything, is a perfect example of this.

 

            Sometimes, a president’s stances and policies are overshadowed, positively or negatively, by significant personal character traits. Take JFK and Nixon: Kennedy is widely remembered as a great president mostly on account of his inspirational, larger-than-life charm and personality. For “image presidents” like himself and Reagan, the sense of optimism and leadership represented by their personalities were at least as important as the success or failure of any of their political initiatives. Conversely, Nixon accomplished many great policy initiatives—ending the Vietnam War, quietly increasing the pace of desegregation, founding the EPA—but his megalomanic, paranoid personality and raw thirst for power led him to massively abuse his position and secure his place among the worst presidents ever.

 

            Of course, while personality shouldn’t be ignored when choosing a candidate, it shouldn’t be the only factor, or even the primary one; voting for someone just because “he seems presidential” is a recipe for disaster. Just like single issue abortion or gun rights voters, single issue personality voters have the potential of electing terrible candidates with only one redeeming quality. Personal character should be on equal footing with any policy stance or initiative; and so, like with any political stance, the media does us a favor by trying their hardest to give us a glimpse into the true characters of our candidates.