Richard Cohen on Clark
Sep. 18th, 2003 09:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sisyphusshrugged Something about Clark makes people bristle. He is undoubtedly brilliant -- a Rhodes scholar and first in his class at West Point. He is a fine athlete and a Vietnam combat veteran who was decorated for bravery. He won the respect, even the awe, of his colleagues, but too much of the time he did not win their friendship.
The rap on Clark is that he lacks precisely those qualities that define a politician, particularly warmth and affability. David Halberstam, in his book "War in a Time of Peace," writes of Clark that even his most steadfast champion in the army, Gen. John Shalikashvili, recognized that Clark was too brash, too cocky, too driven, too self-absorbed, too hard on subordinates, too dismissive of critics and criticism -- but also too brilliant and talented to be overlooked. Shali promoted him.
Shalikashvili's bottom line is precisely what I kept finding in the people I talked to. To a person, they acknowledged Clark's flaws but said they were minor compared with his assets. One former Clinton administration official described Clark as "a little arrogant . . . not beloved by his colleagues . . . self-centered . . . high-maintenance" but said he would support him in a heartbeat...
Cohen's point? Clark is too weird to be president.
Clark was too brash, too cocky, too driven, too self-absorbed, too hard on subordinates, too dismissive of critics and criticism -- but also too brilliant and talented to be overlooked.
Except for the brilliant and talented thing, and the small matter that he knows how to run a war, this sounds a great deal like the guy we have now.
The rap on Clark is that he lacks precisely those qualities that define a politician, particularly warmth and affability. David Halberstam, in his book "War in a Time of Peace," writes of Clark that even his most steadfast champion in the army, Gen. John Shalikashvili, recognized that Clark was too brash, too cocky, too driven, too self-absorbed, too hard on subordinates, too dismissive of critics and criticism -- but also too brilliant and talented to be overlooked. Shali promoted him.
Shalikashvili's bottom line is precisely what I kept finding in the people I talked to. To a person, they acknowledged Clark's flaws but said they were minor compared with his assets. One former Clinton administration official described Clark as "a little arrogant . . . not beloved by his colleagues . . . self-centered . . . high-maintenance" but said he would support him in a heartbeat...
Cohen's point? Clark is too weird to be president.
Clark was too brash, too cocky, too driven, too self-absorbed, too hard on subordinates, too dismissive of critics and criticism -- but also too brilliant and talented to be overlooked.
Except for the brilliant and talented thing, and the small matter that he knows how to run a war, this sounds a great deal like the guy we have now.
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-18 06:31 am (UTC)At the very least he doesn't smirk.
As far as "warmth", get a puppy. Who cares as long as he gets the job done.
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Date: 2003-09-18 08:11 am (UTC)