There’s a lot of chatter on the internet about Obama’s governing style, especially the manner in which he’s approaching decisions on Afghanistan.  Michael Gerson reports in the Washington Post, for example, that some military men are impressed by the president’s deliberate approach to military decisions.  Others fret that the debate is too public, allowing an enemy to try to influence the outcome by sudden, violent actions.

We would be well to remember the advice that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur’s father, also a general, gave him - that councils of war breed defeatism.  People sit around and talk, and talk, and talk, and, by the time they’ve finished, they’ve intellectualized the problem to death, figuring out everything that could go wrong, and becoming hesitant and discouraged.

Obama’s deliberate style doesn’t impress me at all.  I find it ahistorical and dangerous.  Great leaders understand that war is, by definition, a calculated risk.  As the military says, all planning is obsolete on first contact with the enemy, for the enemy also has a brain, and will do everything to wreck our best-laid plans.  Great leaders make the best decisions they can, find the best people they can, give those people the resources they need, and let them do their job, always knowing that there can be bad days as well as good. 

Great leaders also have an objective, and are relentless in pursuing it.  Lincoln went through general after general before finding Grant, but he never wavered in his goal.

And great leaders believe in the nobility of winning. ”In war,” MacArthur said, “there is no substitute for victory.”   Obama, by contrast, has a visceral dislike for the word.  Maybe he thinks it’s too macho or too American.

Finally, great leaders understand the need to lead and inspire their nation toward the ultimate goal, even in the face of ridicule.  Churchill, as Edward R. Murrow pointed out, mobilized the English language and hurled it at the enemy.  But when the leader believes that he is above his nation, better and wiser, he ignores the need to lead, and withdraws into his own wonderfulness.

Which is why Barack Obama can never be a great leader.

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