Searching for that Special Formula for Leadership

By Hugh Sidey

The Presidency

Jimmy Carter's leadership is in trouble, and the Bert Lance affair is only one symptom.

In Congress, his domestic programs are being carved up. The two leaders on Capitol Hill, Tip O'Neill and Bob Byrd, appear to sense a certain weakness in the President, and so they are assembling small fiefs around themselves. They agree with his programs--mostly. They want him to succeed--mostly. But they are not certain about him, and so they stand at arm's length, making sure they protect their own turf. A little of the power that Carter surely lost in the Lance affair was gathered in by Bob Byrd.

The idea that Carter can be pushed is currently a part of the attack plan of every special-interest group in Washington: the blacks, the women, George Meany, Ralph Nader. There is the feeling that nobody is really in charge, and now is the time to strike.

U.S. business leaders seem scared, and, as much as anything else, the reason is Carter. Governors worry privately about Carter; so do mayors. Over a Scotch at night they declare that they cannot really tape the guy.

The men who undertake special missions for the President like him. Clark Clifford, adviser to Presidents since Truman's day, says unequivocally, "Jimmy Carter has the best mind of any President I have known." Yet those like Clifford, and Ellsworth Bunker and Sol Linowitz, who negotiated the Panama Canal treaty, have come from the Oval Office sometimes not quite sure they know Carter.

Over on K Street, the word is around that Henry Kissinger guards a daunting stack of unsolicited mail from leaders of governments around the globe. Many of them declare outright that things are growing worse in the international community, and there could be real trouble if Carter does not take hold soon. The Soviets are coming to the conclusion that he can be pushed around, and the Chinese are mildly contemptuous. Western European leaders are nervous; they feel that Carter talks and acts convincingly in meetings--but then nothing happens with his policies.

There is, of course, no handbook on how to be a successful President. Every Chief Executive has had to blend his special strengths into a formula for leadership. Franklin Roosevelt prided himself on his ability to charm and convince. Truman had a remarkable sense of history, and he had good-sense guts. Ike had perhaps the most refined sense of honor of any modern President. He trusted the system, he trusted the American people, and they in turn returned that trust. John Kennedy had style, some substance and a lot of combativeness. Nixon knew power and the world, and for a spell that appeared to be enough. Jerry Ford vetoed bills and kept his cool, and there emerged from even his limited presidency the sense of a man wielding power.

Jimmy Carter has not yet produced that special sense of authority. He came to office convinced that solutions to many problems were far easier than others had thought. One of Carter's counselors affirms his intelligence but observes: "The greatest problem facing the nation today is Carter's lack of experience." Neither Carter nor his aides, declares this fellow, had the vaguest idea what the Lance case was costing them, or how to resolve it, until in desperation Lance reached out and called in Lawyer Clark Clifford.

Says a former member of Ford's Cabinet: "Carter has not made that transition from running for office to the job of leading the nation. All Presidents sooner or later must get rid of people who put them into office in favor of those who know what to do. Carter has refused to do that."

Hamilton Jordan and Jody Powell and the rest of the Georgia Mafia may have been great campaign aides, but they are not experienced in power. Perhaps Carter should enlarge and enrich his staff and get people who know how this city runs. Nothing is so effective in the White House as a staff of young men and women who love the office, love the work, love the city, love politics, and who travel through the back corridors with laughter and zest.

To improve matters, Carter must also come to some tough conclusions and realizations about himself. He must disappoint friends, even fire them if necessary. He must stonewall critics at times, reserve his power and prestige for issues that matter--not for Bert Lance. He must get mad at the right people at the right time.

Henry Kissinger used to say that there is no way that people in the White House can educate themselves after they take office. They have to deal with the day-to-day crises, and there is no energy left over to enrich their backgrounds. True, they get street-wise and more experienced in the tactics of Government, but if an Administration does not know where it wants to go before Inauguration Day, the chances are it may never find out once in power.

Being President is the job of putting together the correct ideas, the correct instincts, the correct talents, the correct people and the correct actions. From that comes purpose and force. Carter has not yet found his formula.

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