Broken Trust: How Weak LeadershipHurts Us All

Written By: Charlie Griffith

Leadership is such a difficult word to pin down these days. It is becoming recently more difficult to conceptualize in politics. People used to ask questions about accountability, representation, political goals, and how to create a more perfect union. Now, leadership is a buzz word that is tossed around at conventions, think-tanks, and debates with little to no emphasis. This begs the question, what is effective political leadership?

Looking at candidates who won elections in record numbers, there are several qualities they all shared, especially when looking at their leadership qualities. Presidents like, JFK, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all had approval ratings over 60%, which, for reference, Former President Biden and President Trump both have approval ratings below 40%. When looking at these presidents, they all share a few similar traits that made them powerful leaders. Their ability to communicate, inspire confidence, and navigate crises are what gave them such high approval ratings, but all the same time, none of these men attained these attributes in the same way. For example, Kennedy communicated with inspiration, while Eisenhower communicated with calm reassurance. There are not many glaring similarities between the young president playboy and the old five star general, yet they were both wildly effective. These qualities can be different but must be effective for proper leadership.

The stage is set to dive into the reason why there is currently weak leadership in politics throughout the United States. I must first address the two separate parties and their susceptibility for poor leaders as candidates. 2 They both have had terrible choices.

On one end, Trump’s personal scandals, which are incomparable to previous presidents, undermine his moral credibility needed to inspire people. On the other end, many voters felt Joe Biden lacked the vitality to inspire confidence – A key leadership quality. Do you see a pattern? People can cite their presidential achievements and flaws, but the truth is, neither man inspires people. That is a concept worth exploring. The cop-out answer is they are both old men who are out of touch with younger voters, and they do not understand common problems people face. While that may be part of the case, there have been and still are older politician who have done well with younger populations like Bernie Sanders, or the late John McCain.

The heart of the problem is that polarization has eroded the qualities of leadership itself. In such a divided landscape, many voters tune out rhetoric altogether, while others cling to figures who project strength—even if those figures use inflammatory language or act without integrity. The hunger for leadership remains, but in the absence of unity, it often gets filled by personalities rather than true leaders.

The issue with this is that voters lose the morals that built both parties. If someone told Ronald Reagan that a republican president would incite people to attack the Capitol building, he’d roll in his grave. Similarly, if someone told Jimmy Carter that big businesses are meddling with the democratic party and impeding people from getting basic needs more than ever he would be astonished.

I do not want to pontificate on the problems and the many reasons why people do not find any inspiration in recent party members; solutions to these problems are going to be what changes the current trend in poor political leaders, and I believe informed voters and leaders will be the crux of the solution. Too often I hear “I do not like the man, but I like his politics”. That argument cannot continue because the politics of the man are impacted by the man’s morals and experiences. It’s impossible to differentiate the two. Trump’s nationalistic view on life before politics greatly influences his political stances, and similarly, Biden’s desire for economic equality also comes from his middle-class upbringing.

We the people need to get away from these catchphrases because they are simply untrue, and they inhibit people from trying to find people who lead with dignity, communication, and honesty. Voters desperately want someone to come to the forefront with the desire to lead them and not lead them to a fascist or communist regime, but to lead them to a better United States. As a potential politician, political leadership is indeed what you make of it. It is on each new candidate to reinstall the qualities that were present in political leaders just a few decades ago.

I’d like to close with a phrase that was coined by former President Obama; E Pluribus, Unum, out of many, one. This is the new direction leaders must take. What makes our country so great is that we are many different people who come from different backgrounds, but for our union to continue to succeed, we need a leader who sees all these different groups of people with all their differences and still sees one America. 3