# How good a national leader would you be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 26, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208 "2014-12-26T14:02:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/21 "2014-12-26T22:42:05Z")
I’d be a benevolent, yet somewhat capricious and unstable dictator. Everyone would have to do what I say, but it will be for their own good; you’ll see! I’d be like a much nicer Kim Jong Un. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/22 "2014-12-26T23:56:35Z")
Is this the only way we can get a gay president? But I cannot work under pressure, so I’d have to delegate a lot . . . which may not be a bad thing. And both parties would hate me. So I guess it all adds up to “average.” 1. My partner would be the “First Laddie.” 2. Move the capital to Paris . . . like the way the U.N. is embedded in NYC. 3. Replace the Supreme Court robes with cross-dressing outfits. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/23 "2014-12-27T00:42:15Z")
I have no plans, and kind of just go with the last idea I had. I can’t think of a worse description for a world leader. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/24 "2014-12-27T01:03:26Z")
I’d probably be assassinated pretty early. Universal Health Care for everyone. Education is free for everyone. I’d raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for it. I’d raise minimum wage and then I’d start on infrastructure, which would give jobs to just about everyone. I’d change the prison system and decriminalize most drugs. I’d improve the social safety net with a lot more resources for the homeless and the mentally ill and the drug addicted. And then I’d start on ridding this country of guns. I’d probably be dead within a week. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/25 "2014-12-27T01:03:41Z")
I like Bouncer’s post, but I’d add a few things: 1. Remember the chaos right after 9/11 when planes were grounded and people couldn’t get home for a while? I would institute a federally administered train system, much like the National Highway System. Right now, plane travel is the only way to move large amounts of people long distances. I believe we need a country wide system of train routes much like the U.S. had before automobiles became widespread. 2. I believe in one 6 year term at a time for every legislator above the state level. These terms would be staggered so that there would be enough legislators available for the executive, legislative, and judicial (except for the Supreme Court judges) to conduct the nation’s business. If a legislator wanted to run again, they would have to sit out for six years and try again. How soon do you all think I’d be impeached? ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/26 "2014-12-27T01:06:38Z")
I’m… Overemotional Lazy Arrogant Judgemental Unreliable. Narcasistic But I’m honest, and open to advice, so I’d put myself easily in the top 5 of Aussie and British PMs. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/27 "2014-12-27T03:19:31Z")
_“If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.”_ -William Tecumseh Sherman, first -Gatopescado, most recent ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/28 "2014-12-27T03:22:06Z")
If by “national,” could you mean one of those tiny conch republic island nations whose main source of income is canceling stamps for philatelists? “I bring you fresh ink pads!” “Our deliverer!” ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/29 "2014-12-27T03:41:44Z")
Running a country is too much work, i’ll be collecting my salary and going on vacation. Sure I’ll sign some stuff if they mail it to me. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/30 "2014-12-27T04:19:51Z")
I’m pretty lefty, so that wouldn’t go over too well domestically. I swear, though, you guys are going to like the health care when it comes, and it’s going to be nice not to be tripping over homeless people all the time. I’m all geared up to tackle foreign policy, but unfortunately there are realities in how foreign policy works that can’t be fixed with good sense. I’m not really sure I could do much good. So I will be right, but unpopular and ineffective. At least I’ll have company! ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/31 "2014-12-27T04:46:15Z")
Not entirely sure how this would work in Finland - if I was forced to be the Prime Minister, the cabinet would get a motion of no confidence pretty fast and that’d be that. I guess I could be drafted to be the President, in which case I’d have no real power which would be a huge relief. I’d still hate it but at least the pay would be decently good. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/32 "2014-12-28T17:35:39Z")
I’d be pretty good. I am excellent at delegating, which is what being POTUS is all about. And I’m fucking charming. Humble, too. I see my greatest weakness as my inability to wear a large enough American flag lapel pin. Also being constitutionally ineligible to serve as POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/33 "2014-12-28T20:11:53Z")
I’ll both revolutionize manned space exploration _and_ institute a massive public-works and jobs-creation program by ordering the construction of a fleet of [Project Orion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29) spacecraft in economically depressed areas. And then launching them, straight from the shipyards. Construction will be financed partially by holding a lottery for seats on the colonization missions. Ticket prices start at $50,000. It will, of course, be rigged. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/34 "2014-12-28T21:23:36Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Kill all opposition. My first order of business would be to declare myself Empress of All She Surveys, but you’ve given me a good idea for my second order of business. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/35 "2014-12-28T21:44:24Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > I’d be horrible. I have absolutely no tolerance for the “games for games sake” politics at the national level. > > [snip] > > I’d be impeached within hours. 🙂 > > Regards, > -Bouncer- The OP said “head of government”, not “dictator”. Much of your agenda would require legislation. Either you play political games, or nothing gets done. Or you sign a bunch of executive orders, which the next president can easily reverse. As for me, I would probably tick off the zealots in both parties, and get very little through Congress. There seems to be a lot that the President can do through executive orders, though without legislation to back it up, it’s likely to be ephemeral. The media would crucify me. I would make several recent Vice Presidents look like silver-tongued orators. Ask me a question, give me a couple of hours (or days) to think about it, and I can give you a good answer. But my knee-jerk reactions are usually badly worded. (Which is why I prefer message boards to chat rooms.) That doesn’t work with the modern media. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/36 "2014-12-28T22:25:31Z")
How is anyone going to get anything done? If the Congress (I am American) is elected as now, then I have no political capital because no one got elected along with me. If every politician is appointed, nobody would have the slightest clue as to how to do anything. I would be the helpless pawn of my advisors, if any. The whole system of government would have to be re-vamped, and that process would be as messed up as anything else. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/37 "2014-12-28T23:03:40Z")
In absolute terms, I’d be terrible. I’m not smart enough, and I’m emotional/hormonal, scatterbrained, forgetful and lazy. However, in comparison to the joker running the show at the moment, I’d be a massive improvement so never say never, right? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/38 "2014-12-29T00:29:24Z")
I have no doubt I would be indicted for war crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/39 "2014-12-29T00:35:00Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > I should also mention that [Jimmy Carter](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4wyuyPSQT1rw41szo1_500.png) as history’s greatest monster is a reference to one of my favourite _Simpsons_ jokes, more seriously for the U.S.'s crappiest leaders you can sub in the likes of Buchanan, Johnson, Harding. Or Garfield! That bastard _totally_ ruined America. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208/40 "2014-12-29T01:06:18Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > I’d be horrible. I have absolutely no tolerance for the “games for games sake” politics at the national level. I’m of this mind. Fortunately for all involved I’d have the foresight to have a frosty personal advisor at my elbow at all times whose sole purpose is to say things like, “You ought not do that because…” I would also have a team dedicated entirely to finding, potentially even producing, political dirt on all potential obstructionists. I love the idea of loyal opposition, but as soon as someone starts a policy of opposition just because–the shit starts flying and careers get wrecked. Still on the fence about actually blackmailing people (threatening harm to family members, etc.). I’d probably be assassinated. And that’d be alright by me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-a-national-leader-would-you-be/708208.md?page=3)