Ten Rules for the Next President
Former Faculty
By Kevin Cooney, Associate Professor of Political Science
Jan 17, 2008 - In a January 13, 2008 article for the Boston Globe, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright laid out ten rules for the next President. While the critique is primarily partisan in nature, it did lead me to think about the foreign policy of the 44th president that we are currently trying to elect. Here are my ten policy rules for the next president:
Rule #1: Keep America’s interests ahead of your own political, ideological, and party’s interests. The only safe path when a nation like ours is so politically divided is the one in which you are acting clearly for the national good. Don’t expect for even a moment that partisanship will stop at the water’s edge because you have been elected. We live in an era where the next president (you) will be hated as much if not more than the last two. We are a politically divided nation and the brief unity felt after 9/11 is now gone. You may want to bring people together and be a “uniter not a divider” but so did the last two presidents.
Rule #2: As president you will have to do things you do not want to do and promised not to do on the campaign trail, but are necessary for the national interest. You are the president; there is no more “armchair quarterbacking.” You are in the game and no one will have sympathy for your mistakes, especially if we are not around to sympathize because of your mistake.
Rule #3: Never forget the consequences of your potential mistakes. Once in office you will have a lot more sympathy for George W. Bush and Bill Clinton than you ever thought possible. Get used to it. The buck stops at your desk now and no one will ever understand how hard the decisions you made were except for those that came before you and those that come after you unless you really mess up and then no one will be around to complain or to understand.
Rule #4: When you act in the national interest the rest of the world may not like it but at least they will understand why you did it even while condemning you for doing it. This is much better than them applauding you for your actions while laughing at you (and us) behind our back for being so stupid.
Rule #5: You will do many great things for the nation and the world but most of it will go unrecognized. Trust the American people to recognize what you are doing; we are a lot smarter than our test scores indicate.
Rule #6: President George W. Bush predicted that Al-Qaeda would survive his Presidency and it has. It will likely survive your Presidency too so you can never let your guard down.
Rule #7: There are more people want to come to America than hate us, however the terrorists want to come here too. Border control is very important for any sovereign nation.
Rule #8: The Israeli/Palestinian issue will never be resolved until both sides and all factions recognize that killing each other will not solve the problem and that nothing will ever be the same as it once was and you as president can not make them recognize this no matter how important it is to your legacy.
Rule #9: Listen and learn from both sides. Show respect to those that oppose you and give then a chance to be heard.
Rule #10: God and the voters permitted you to hold the office you now hold, never forget who you work for and serve: the American people including those that didn’t vote for you. God has given you a great responsibility and will hold you accountable for your actions. Walk humbly before Him and pray often for His help.
These are ten rules in no particular order. I could add more but this is a good start.