What do you look for in a President?

Heads of State in European countries are well educated and many hold Doctor’s degrees. 
In looking at our recent past Head of State (President), I can think of a few that I considered intelligent in my lifetime, starting with President Eisenhower.  He was intelligent and a proven leader.  Nixon was intelligent; however he made some stupid mistakes. 
The most admired and intelligent President I can remember is JFK.  He was admired world-wide. The most important thing he did was keep us from war during the Cuban missile crisis.  Jimmy Carter was intelligent.  He was/is also a man of integrity. His problem was that he lacked charisma and salesmanship.  Bill Clinton was intelligent.  Although he lacked poor judgment in his personal life, his performance as President was outstanding.  The nationally elected President that never held the office of President was Al Gore.  He was/is a very intelligent man.  I often wonder how the world would look today if he had been our President. 
 
Worst Presidents in recent past IMV are Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.  Reagan’s strength was his ability to read script and deliver them with a tele-prompter.  He was a good salesman   George Bush failed miserably in talking extemporaneously as did Reagan.  Bush’s command of the English language was also lacking.   His invasion of Iraq was the greatest blunder of any past American Presidents. 
 
Barack Obama is also intelligent.  He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.  He has shown dignity where others would have caved in.  His greatest handicap is his race.  When the opposition decides to cause a President to fail, surviving that assault and still maintaining the persistence to accomplish what he promised makes him special.  His legacy will reflect those accomplishments. 
 
It would seem that Americans want a salesman for President.  Someone who can charm them and tell them what they want to hear.  There is nothing wrong with being a salesman; however the embellishment of a salesman to the status of con-artist makes it a bad title. 
 
When one is seeking the office of President for the first time, they have no Presidential credentials.  It is a learning experience while on the job.  Trying to evaluate their competency in handling such an important and powerful position should cause much concern and careful thinking.  Is this a person who can work under pressure?  Is this a person who can keep a cool head in a crisis?  Is this a person who will work for the best interests of the country and its citizens?   Will he/she “promote the general welfare” as stated in the preamble to our Constitution?  How will this person be viewed by the world at large?  Will he/she be respected?  Respect is paramount to dealing with any country, friend or foe. 
 
Opinions on the above welcomed.  Although the election for our next President is still distant, it is important for all to ask themselves, what kind of President do I want?  Will he/she represent the citizens of America?  Will he/she be respected in the world?  Will he/she keep us out of war?

In your lifetime? You left out Truman. Intelligent, honest to the core, and with integrity. I like that he admitted his mistakes, saying, for example, that letting the House UnAmerican Activities Committee destroy lives was a huge mistake. In his account (1954 memoirs) of the infamous meeting with MacArthur on a Pacific island, he completely left out the part about MacArthur making him wait and dressing down the General for it.

In the debate they picked on Trump, Carson, and Fiorina as being "outsiders" who were never elected to public office, with the suggestion that as such thay lacked the qualifications to work within the framework of national politicians. In my view all three of them missed an opportunity. For anyone who thinks you have to be inside the Beltway or a Governor to be an effective president, I have two words: Dwight Eisenhower.

Managers can be trained.  They take a stable situation and keep it going well.  Leaders cannot be trained.  Leadership in my opinion is an art, a kind of Charisma and intellect that creates an aura into which the most talented leaders are drawn to compliment the President.

Proven leaders who are known for finding solutions to incomprehensible problems are on my front burner but I don't see any on the current list.  Hillary is the closest.  She faced insurmountable problems as Secretary of State and was an accomplished leader in that position.  Joe Biden is a proven problem solver and has experience on the international stage.

I look for a leader with vision of the future and how to fit puzzle pieces together on a world stage using the best minds available to build on that vision.  A person who inspires the best from all parties to work together for the good of the nation as a whole, with all its diversity and pieces.

I seek a person who has grit and determination and experience with the complexities of government bureaucracies. Governors with problem solving success over the years in such states as New York, California, and Florida often have experience internationally and domestically with microcosms of national issues.

I seek a leader whose personal beliefs govern his own life but who tempers them with the diversity of the country and doesn't attempt to deny rights to others but rather respects individual choices that are not a threat to the security and safety of the nation or its youth.

I prefer a leader who has a spiritual compass though it's not a requirement.  A leader may have another compass that imbues him/her with compassion and the respect for dignity of all human beings across the globe as one human race.

I seek a person who prefers reconciliation to conflict, compassion to anger, and seeks solutions that are rational not fanatical.

I'm sure there's more.  Did I say a person of intellect with a broad education and prepared for the challenges of a technological society and world?

If you look at the candidates currently running it would appear the qualifications are being a self-serving, egomaniac better suited for running a Mafioso family than a country.  Trump and Clinton top the list of those lying, cheating qualifiers.  All but Sanders and Carson meet those qualifications to some degree, and they’re too weak kneed to lead a Boy Scout troop, but that’s just my opinion.
 
They are all talking Toro Kaka, saying whatever they think the public wants to hear that will get them elected to a status job, that doesn’t pay well, is nothing but headaches, but makes them feel self-important.  Not a one of them can deliver on the promises they make.  As so many elections in the past it will come down to the one that is the least offensive.
 
As I said in an earlier post…If brains were cotton, you couldn’t scrape enough together from the whole bunch to make a Q-tip for an ant.
 
Maybe I’m getting too old for this crap!

Good post, DK.  and Don, I agree with your assesment.  I am getting too old for this crap and won't keep my mouth shut just to appease.  When one enters the voting booth, the importance of what one enters as a vote suddenly hits you.  In the past, I used the process of elimination and it usually ended up being for the best of the worst.  I have some inkling who I may vote for, but that is subject to change.  I am not a party voter.  I have voted for both Democratic and Republican candidates.  I don't expect to change that tactic.

I will vote for whichever candidate expresses the intention and demonstrated an ability to create jobs and to get jobs returned here from outsourcing.

Those who campaign on a platform of the redistribution of wealth are on shaky ground. First, it can't be done, and second the economy would come crashing down around us if it was. Also, it wouldn't last. Free enterprise rewards the ambitious, and the present distribution ratio would return with a few flips of the coin.

I don't care if the candidate is weak on foreign policy. He or she will have advisers, carefully chosen, I hope, for their strengths in those matters.

Again: Jobs.

I want Joe Biden.  I like his teeth, humor and self.

Hope he runs.

I think one of most crucial qualities is how well the person handles a crisis. Is their demeanor to take command right away and get the answers for the right questions or will they go into shock from the magnitude of the event. Even worse they could be the type to go in with a preconceived notion of they way things are and not listen to the sound advice of others.
As a Canadian I also appreciate the Presidents who create good fodder for Saturday Night Live.