The Leadership of william Clinton

Created by Stephen Gage Estes

IntroductionWilliam Jefferson Clinton, later to be known as Bill Clinton, is a man known for many of

his great achievements. He was the 42nd President of the United States, Governor and Attorney

General of Arkansas, and an advocate for human rights. Bill Clinton is a very educated man with

a degree from Georgetown University as well as one from Yale. Clinton had one of the highest

approval ratings in the history of the United States Presidency. President Clinton also had an

ethical breakdown during his second term of Presidency. Bill Clinton is a good leader because

he fixed the National Deficit, improved our foreign relations, and “More than 22 million jobs

were created in less than eight years.” (http://clinton5.nara.gov)

Defining LeadershipBill Clinton was born in 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. The Second World War had just ended brining

thousands of soldiers back to the United States. Bill Clinton was born during the Baby Boomer

era. This is important to understand because the Baby Boomer generation grew up in a time

where people started to question the norms of the past. During the 1950s, the approach to

leadership and organizational theory changed drastically.

Growing up, Bill went through the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and his

mother going through multiple divorces with abusive men. These are the situations that a large

number of people have gone through and can relate to, and it makes a person want to change the

world for the better. This was also a time where government was making the citizens fear “Uncle

Sam” because of drafts, to the war, and laws against equality. One group that President Bill

Clinton had the most influence on is his cabinet, which will be covered more in depth in the

Power and Influences section.

SettingThe United States is a representative democracy where

our representatives’ jobs are to represent the people and

their needs. During the time Bill Clinton was in the white

house, except for the very end, both the President of the

United States was a Democrat and Congress was

dominated with Democrats. This allowed Bill, who is a

Democrat, to be aligned with Congress. Congress is

responsible for most of the decisions and law making. This

helped Clinton by giving him the convenience of not

having to battle with the other team, the Republicans, as

much to get bills passed. The citizens of the United States are the followers and, in most cases,

the everyday citizen will never meet the people that are representing them. It is important for

elected representatives to be involved with their citizens and equally important for the citizens to

be involved with their elected representatives.

When Bill Clinton became Governor of Arkansas, the citizens of Arkansas knew that their

education system had to be fixed, so as governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton knew there was a

need for positive improvement in the educational system of Arkansas, so he put more resources

and money into the education budget. Bill Clinton took the Arkansas education from one of the

lowest rated education systems in the nation to one of the highest rated education systems in our

nation. Bill’s emphasis on fixing the problems of the education system in Arkansas showed the

followers that he was willing to work hard to give his state a brighter future.

Leadership DevelopmentBill Clinton was born into a family where his father had died before his birth. This is a very

sad thing, but throughout his childhood he would see men come and go and abuse his mother.

This is one of the many situations where Bill Clinton

had to overcome and presume responsibility for his

mother and himself. Bill Clinton’s childhood was also a

time of racial discrimination and segregation. Bill’s

grandparents owned a store during his childhood where

it was said that “they allowed people of all races to

purchase goods on credit. They taught their young grandson that everyone is created equal and

that people should not be treated differently because of the color of their skin.”(Clinton.gov)

This helped instill the importance of equality to Bill at an early age. One of Bill Clinton’s most

influential moments came when he watched Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his “I Have a

Dream” speech. This was a very important role model for Bill because Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. showed Bill the need “for communicating a clear vision and his ability to pull people together

to work toward a common goal.” (Clinton.gov) which is very important in politics.

Bill Clinton was a very busy person during his twenties. He earned a Bachelor of Science in

Foreign Service from Georgetown University. During his years at Georgetown, Bill was

involved with student government and even had an internship with an Arkansas Senator. Being

able to work with an Arkansas Senator gave Bill an excellent opportunity to network with people

in politics, experience problems our elected representatives have to deal with, and improve his

political skills. Bill Clinton once said “If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you

learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you.

The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.”(1) It is very important to learn from not

only the mistakes that an individual makes, but also to learn from mistakes that other have made.

Bill Clinton took everything as an opportunity to learn, and by

doing so, learned how hard work and dedication can pay off.

In 1975 Bill Clinton Married Hillary Rodham, who was a

Yale graduate and very involved in politics. This relationship

really helped Bill Clinton become a powerful politician. With the ability to bounce ideas off of

Hilary and get feedback from a strong educated woman’s point of view had to affect the way Bill

looked at problems. Hillary was very involved in Women’s Rights and is still a powerful

political force today. In 1980 Bill and Hilary had their first child, Chelsea Victoria Clinton. The

Clintons were now the average American family that the nation can relate to.

Assessing LeadershipBill Clinton wanted to be a public figure from the time he was in high school. The two major

influences the affected this the most was John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Both of

these men were highly educated public figures that changed the nation forever. The things that

make a president successful are: having a clear vision, excellent communication skills, and the

ability to make important decisions in critical times. The job of the President of the United States

is a very hard job that affects billions of people and every decision affects somebody at some

level. President Clinton, from the time he was in office, made it his goal to fix our economy.

Power and InfluenceAs President of the United States, Bill Clinton had an enormous amount of power, especially

considering that he is a Democrat and that Congress was controlled, at the time, by Democrats.

One of the ways that the President of the United States uses his powers is through the

implementation and rejection of policies. This is an example of his power over Legislation.

“Policies are seen as the outcomes of government activity; for this reason, policy formulation

and policy implementation are seen as central to the political process.”(Denhardt pg112)

Bill Clinton had an amazing talent for

tweaking policies to make them more efficient.

An excellent example of this is the line-item veto,

that Bill Clinton endorsed (Auburn.edu), that

allows the President the ability to veto a certain

provision of a bill without having to start over on

a new revised bill. This is one of the tactics Bill used to reduce the National Deficit. This is just

one example of the power of President of the United States, but there are other powers such as

Powers of Appointment and Executive Powers. The President of the United States is also in

charge of the nation’s military and foreign affairs.

“Whereas power is the capacity to cause change, influence is the degree of actual change in a

target person’s attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors.”(pg119) Power and influence go hand in

hand in politics. The President of the United States has a lot of power but the ability to influence

followers has the biggest impact on the citizens of the United States sharing a common goal. A

couple of the ways of the ways that Bill Clinton influenced his followers was by being a

charming, good looking, and smooth-talking public figure. One of Bill Clinton’s strengths was

the ability to win a debate. Before a debate Bill would research not just the other person he was

debating with and the topic, but he thought it was important to have foresight into what the

opponents would say. These debating skills helped Bill not only to become President of the

United States, but also helped him from losing the job during his impeachment.

With each new president comes their “cabinet”

where they appoint their staff. This is known as the

Power of Appointment. The official site of the

Whitehouse defines the cabinet as “The Cabinet

includes the Vice President and the heads of 15

executive departments — the Secretaries of

Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education,

Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland

Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior,

Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.”

(Whitehouse.gov) The President’s cabinet is an excellent example of some of the power a

President has, and also a group that the President directly influences.

ValuesBill Clinton’s values and ethics have been questioned because of his unethical affair with

Monica Lewinski, but Bill Clinton’s strong values and ethics are what made him a successful

President of the United States. Some of Bill Clinton’s more noticeable values are the value for

education, equality, and honesty. One of the most important values that Bill Clinton possess the

value to stand up for what is right and standing up for those who can’t. A perfect example of his

values is when he stood up to his abusive step-father. “At fourteen, Bill confronted him. "Daddy,

if you're not able to stand up, I'll help you," (Scholastic.com) he said, "but you must stand up

to hear what I have to say. Don't ever, ever, lay your hand on my mother again." It takes courage

to stand up and Bill Clinton stood up for his mother and his country.

The Monica Lewinski scandal was by far the biggest ethical breakdown in the life of Bill

Clinton. This was an eighteen month affair were Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski hand

multiple sexual affairs in the Oval Office. This was a huge scandal that Bill Clinton’s

Presidential Administration is unfortunately remembered for. Bill Clinton was one of only three

Presidents to be impeached. At the end of the twenty-one day Senate Impeachment trial, Bill

Clinton was acquitted of the charges against him.

TraitsA perfect example of someone who has a high rating in the Five Factor Model is Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton is a well-traveled man who studied foreign affairs at both Yale and Georgetown. He

also was in a program that allowed him to study in England. Bill Clinton is very open to

experiences. Another trait that Bill Clinton has is the ability to plan ahead and focus on a clear

goal. This attribute gives Bill a high level of conscientiousness. As Bill has showed in the past he

has a very soft spot in his heart for people who aren’t able to stand up for themselves. Because of

this one can say that Bill has a high extraversion. Some of Bills most noticeable traits are his

agreeableness and his neuroticism, which can be seen in speeches and debates. Bill was excellent

at damage control and persuasion.

One way to analyze the intelligence of

Bill Clinton is Sternberg’s triarchic theory

of intelligence. The triarchic theory of intelligence “focuses on what a leader does when solving

complex mental problem.”(Northouse pg210) The triarchic theory is comprised of three different

intelligences: analytic intelligence, practical intelligence, and creative intelligence. Bill Clinton

has a very high intelligence in all of these areas. He is very good at solving problems in multiple

ways. He is very creative in some of the policies and change in policies that he had to modify or

create.

BehaviorBill Clinton’s administrative goals and achievements show that they put a high emphasis on

not only improving the economy but improving the equality in our nation. Bill has a high

concern for people and a high concern for production, but one could argue that the position of

President of the United States could not be defined by the leadership grid. Bill Clinton probably

would fall into the area of 9,5 leadership style. The government has to be efficient, but also needs

to weigh in the concerns and needs of the citizens. Bill Clinton had a problem with multiple

women throughout his political career, but he has since stayed away from such scandals. Bill

Clinton was President during the invention of the internet and also during a huge jump in

technological technology. This made him have to change the way things were done, and the way

he addressed the media and the frequency that he could do so.

ConclusionIn summation Bill Clinton was a very remarkable man with the ability to see the future and

change the nation. Besides his few hiccups as President, Bill showed that he was a leader who

would stand up for the common man. Bill used his power as a platform for equal rights and he

used his powers as President to fix our economy. He also showed us that education and hard

work leads to a better tomorrow.

References

http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-01.html

William J. Clinton. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from BrainyQuote.com

Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamjc454937.html

http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/line-item_veto

http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/Hope.html

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/bill-clinton