From The American Prospect:
Intelligence matters. The job of the president of the United States is not to love his wife; it�s to manage a wide range of complicated issues. That requires character, yes, but not the kind of character measured by private virtues like fidelity to spouse and frequency of quotations from Scripture. Yet it also requires intelligence. It requires intellectual curiosity, an ability to familiarize oneself with a broad range of views, the capacity -- yes -- to grasp nuances, to foresee the potential ramifications of one�s decisions, and, simply, to think things through. Four years ago, these were not considered necessary pieces of presidential equipment. Today, they have to be.
My only quibble here is when he says that at one point intellectual curiosity, etc. was not considered necessary to be President. Maybe the author thought that, and maybe the network yammer-meisters thought it, but speaking as one who has always cringed at Dubya's lack of engagement with the world, I've always thought the President should have more than a handful of brain cells to rub together along with the will to use them. I would wager that I'm not alone in that, either.
Posted by Jason at August 16, 2004 03:58 PM