I wonder what it really means to be “presidential”? It seems like a vague term that is frequently invoked. Is ‘presidential’ one’s ability to give a good speech? To walk straight, smile, and say “God bless America?” If so, every convention speech I’ve seen in my life has been presidential, including this year’s speeches by both parties. Is it presidential to ‘Tweet’? To “slow jam the news”? To lie? To ignore the Constitution? To pander to your demographic of choice?
Theodore Roosevelt was referred to as “that damn cowboy” when he was put into the Presidency, Lyndon Johnson was an alcoholic, and Thomas Jefferson suffered from irritable bowel syndrome before he engaged in public speaking. Is any of that ‘presidential’?
Political conventions are quite literally dedicated to making a respective candidate seem ‘presidential’ to the public. That’s the entire point. So it’s probably not a great idea to get too drawn in to either one of them.
Perhaps then being ‘presidential’ is probably best measured by one’s ability to accomplish things for the country with competency, pragmatism, and morality. The rest of the pomp and circumstance probably doesn’t matter.
