LEADERSHIP: BILL CLINTON AS A CASE STUDY

Leadership: Bill Clinton as a Case Study

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Presidential Leadership4

Introducing President Clinton6

Bill Clinton Family8

Bill Clinton: Tidbits9

Bill in Politics10

Bill Clinton as a Modal of Presidential Leadership12

Top Leadership Qualities of Bill Clinton13

Lesson 1: Be a Risk Taker13

Lesson 2: Be a Great Communicator14

Lesson 3: Inspire others to Believe in You14

Lesson 4: Stand up for Yourself and for Others14

Lesson 5: Show Compassion14

Lesson 6: Be a Life Long Learner15

Lesson 7: Be Prepared for Opportunity15

Lesson 8: Learn From Failures and Mistakes15

Role with reference to the Hospitality Industry 15

Lesson 9: If you Do the Big Things, the Little Things Will Take Care of Themselves16

Lesson 10: Leave a Great Legacy Behind16

Conclusion16

References18

Leadership: Bill Clinton as a Case Study

Introduction

The presidents of the United States are often labeled as the most powerful individuals in the world because of the impressive military, diplomatic, and economic power they command. Yet the office they hold is also one that is checked and balanced within the American constitutional system to the point that some presidents have complained about the constraints on their capacity to get things done. One president after another has noted how difficult it is to persuade their fellow citizens to take a wise and prudent course of action for the betterment of the nation (Neustadt, 2004).

Over the more than two centuries that the presidency has existed, the forty-two men who have held office have developed a variety of leadership styles to master the demands of leading the nation. Some men, such as Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) and James Buchanan (1857-1861), have come down in history as examples of how not to wield the executive power. Their failures to deal with the sectional crisis over slavery in the 1850s helped to bring on the Civil War. Other chief executives—George Washington (1789-1797), Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)—are esteemed for their ability to rise to the occasion and keep the nation as a going concern for future generations (Arnold, 2005).

A clear definition of the criteria for assessing the success or failure of presidents as national leaders has been difficult to find. Winning war is usually seen as a good sign of successful leadership but not always. William McKinley led the United States to victory over Spain in 1898, but his imperial adventure in the Philippines clouded his reputation. George H. W. Bush directed the victorious first Gulf War in 1991, and the voters turned him out of his presidency a year later. For most presidents who fought wars to victory—Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt—these triumphs provided realistic claims to executive greatness (Dallek, 2006). Bill Clinton confounded his critics who thought he would be a one-term president. He demonstrated the ability to stay on course despite the ideological sling-shots of his opponents who underestimated his determination, courage, and persistence.

Presidential Leadership

An important distinction in presidential leadership exists between those who held the office in the first one hundred years of the republic and those who served after 1897. The presidency was a small institution that directed a small government for ...