THE QUESTION
Obama: A leader's first year
One year into his presidency, what has been Barack Obama's most significant -- or most unexpected -- leadership strength or weakness?
Posted by Steve Pearlstein and Raju Narisetti on January 19, 2010 5:28 AM
FROM THE PANEL
Presidential 360 review
Change fuels passion, not reasoned compromise, and President Obama needs to do a better job of getting the good news out.
Posted by Paul Schmitz, on January 25, 2010 2:40 PM
'In-progress review'
It is part of our Army culture to continually assess our performance on critical tasks and missions. The country must do the same with its president.
Posted by Col. Charles D. Allen, on January 21, 2010 1:02 PM
Beat the drum louder
The case for Obama's ambitious agenda is compelling but we did not hear it--clearly and repeatedly--as we might have from Reagan. It's time to get loud.
Posted by Patricia McGinnis, on January 21, 2010 8:20 AM
Take the congressional lead
If President Obama wants to turn failure into success, he must lead the Democrats in Congress, not follow them.
Posted by Slade Gorton, on January 21, 2010 8:15 AM
Cucumber man
President Obama stayed cool during the worst moments of the economic crisis, and we needed that, but now the moment calls for passion, even anger.
Posted by Bill Shore, on January 20, 2010 11:35 AM
A poor communicator
Until he does a better job of communicating his message, Obama is going to have difficulty influencing the right people in Washington.
Posted by Yash Gupta, on January 20, 2010 10:39 AM
Underplaying his own passions
In his second year, President Obama should make more of his passions--the very qualities that contributed to securing his election to office.
Posted by Alaina Love, on January 20, 2010 8:13 AM
Delivering us from anxiety
President Obama inherited many problems, but the most troubling is the fragile trust Americans have in their government and political leaders.
Posted by Katherine Tyler Scott, on January 20, 2010 8:07 AM
Limits of a silver tongue
Obama has failed to understand how to effectively deploy his oratorical talents as a president rather than as a campaigner.
Posted by Mickey Edwards, on January 19, 2010 3:30 PM
Dizzying fall from grace
The single biggest factor affecting the fate of our nation may well be how Barack Obama navigates his own internal landscape as a leader.
Posted by Nancy Koehn, on January 19, 2010 1:59 PM
In praise of steadiness
Commitment to keeping an even keel is what gives a neophyte leader gravitas, as Obama has done.
Posted by Marie Wilson, on January 19, 2010 1:39 PM
The president's fuzzy leadership
President Obama's leadership performance has been disappointing, as he has missed opportunities for "defining" moments.
Posted by Ken Adelman, on January 19, 2010 11:52 AM
Hard-to-please followers
If Obama's leadership does not succeed, it will be as much or more our fault than his.
Posted by Michael Maccoby, on January 19, 2010 10:47 AM
Overexposed, under-communicating
Obama has not effectively used his presidency to inform and convince the American people about his policy goals.
Posted by Elizabeth Sherman, on January 19, 2010 6:02 AM
His economic task
The right-wingers hate him for being a socialist, and the liberals are angry because he's not.
Posted by Alan M. Webber, on January 19, 2010 5:54 AM
A failure to communicate
It is ironic that Barack Obama has yet to truly find his voice, especially on important issues like health care and the economy.
Posted by Jeffrey Pfeffer, on January 19, 2010 5:46 AM
Just playing it safe
Politically, Obama is treading lightly. He has not aggressively pushed his agenda and instead makes decisions to keep people happy.
Posted by Coro Fellows, on January 19, 2010 1:40 AM
Save & Share:
improvista: Right from the start, Barack Obama has been Hollywoodian make-believe with his good looks and silver tongue.He was thus perceived as rather ...
kdallas999: Obama spoke about what we could do if we all worked together to save our country. He gets in office, we all turn against him, and then we q...
hillkemp: President Obama has laid the corpse of health care reform on the abandoned altar of bi-partisanship. He placed reconciliation so high in pri...
