The problem of a leader who is all ideas and no steadiness

Alexis Zarkov writes:

I think Mr. Auster’s description of Gingrich as “erratic” and “unstable” is accurate. I recognize the type—he’s a “idea man,” who has little interest in execution. The famous physicist Edward Teller had just such a personality. While a brilliant physicist in his early career, he did not like to follow through and rarely finished anything he started. While working on at the Manhattan Project, he usually failed to complete his assignments, and would drift off to dream about “The Super” (an early, but unworkable, idea for a fusion weapon). In his later career, he was a fount of new ideas, some of them very good, but he left the details to other people. People of this personality type should never hold an executive position because they are too unstable, and lack focus. Gingrich as president would produce a chaotic administration.

On the other hand, Romney strikes me as the opposite of a Gingrich. He’s able to prioritize tasks, and focus on what needs to be done. That’s one reason he has been successful in business. Unfortunately this personality type can make for an uninspiring leader. We don’t have good choices for 2112: Obama, Gingrich, and Romney. Unless a brokered Republican convention delivers someone else, we have to go for Romney as the least bad choice.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 31, 2012 10:08 AM | Send