The Psychological Assessment of Political LeadersImpatienceBill Clinton is a man in a hurry. When asked by Dan Rather what
his biggest disappointment in the presidency had been, he
responded, "How hard it is to do everything I want to do as quickly
as I want to do it. ... I {still] get frustrated.... I'm an impatient
person by nature, and I want to do things" (1993c, 479).
David Mathews, who has known Clinton for over twenty years,
observed of his first term as governor, "When he began his adminis-
tration in 1979, Bill was like a man in a hurry to accomplish many
things in a short time. ... I think somehow Bill felt that, through
his sheer energy, he could change our state overnight" (in Levin
1992, 133).
In his presidency, a large number of public deadlines were self-
imposed and unnecessary. For example, Clinton had publicly vowed
to pick his whole cabinet by Christmas, a promise that led to a "mad
scramble" (Drew 1994, 31). Appearing on Larry King Live on June 4,
1992, Clinton said, "I know I can pass a sweeping package of legis-
lation during the first hundred days of my administration." In a May
1992 Fortune magazine article, Clinton is quoted as saying he will
"put together a transition team to 'hit the ground running/ result-
ing in one of those great 100 days in which Congress would adopt
my health care and education policies, my energy and economic ini-
tiatives."
The point here is not to criticize Clinton because of delays or slip-
pages in the schedules he announced but rather to underscore that
the time limits placed on him were of his own making and, strictly
speaking, were not necessary. It seems clear that the president's time
frame was unrealistic, given the complexity of what he was under-
taking. It was also unnecessary and counterproductive to make such
commitments publicly and prematurely. There is no evidence that
the public expected or demanded that he produce detailed legisla-
tion in a variety of areas, some of which would be complex and con-
tentious, and that it be passed or submitted to Congress within his
first one hundred days in office.
The Need to Be Special
Bill Clinton was a very public president and most likely will continue
to be a very public ex-president. For him to be appreciated, others,