June 2024 Meeting: Which political leaders of the past or present do/did you find to be most inspirational even if you didn’t agree with their messages?

 

The June 11 meeting of the Fairfax Alliance focused on the question of which political leaders of the past or present do/did you find to be most inspirational even if you didn’t agree with their messages?  What elements of their leadership style resonated with you? 

The conversation yielded many “that reminds me” moments, so rather than describe it chronologically, this summary identifies key leaders noted, followed by desirable leadership traits and several resources participants noted as helpful to them in forming ideas.

Leaders:  George Bush, Liz Cheney, Shirley Chisolm, Chris Coons, Spencer Cox, Jeff Flake, Mark Hatfield, John F. Kennedy, John McCain, Patrick Moynihan, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama, Yitzhak Rabin, Jamie Raskin, Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt.

Desirable traits: character, charisma, communication, collaborative, compromiser, courage, inspiration, integrity, retail-politician, self-deprecation, service-oriented.  While Donald Trump was not mentioned as a politician anyone in the room found to be a desirable leader, the observation was made that popular culture demonstrates that many Americans place high value on traits such as wealth, fame, and drama.

Resources:       

·         WhereDo You Fall on the Political Spectrum in 2024? Take this Wall Street Journal Quiz - (Note: must be a WSJ subscriber).  An alternative free quiz is available from Pew Research.

·         How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion - Braver Angels

·         Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life: Kristof, Nicholas D.: 9780593862797: Amazon.com: Books

·         BA_2024-Trustworthy-Elections-Report-V12-WEB.pdf (braverangels.org)

·         The Road to Character: Brooks, David: 9780812983418: Amazon.com: Books

·         The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Wikipedia (1962)

·         Manufacturing Consent - Wikipedia (1988)