President George W. Bush considered himself The Decider. In the famous press conference of April 2006, he declared “I am the decider and I decide what’s best,” referring to his support of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense as well his role in decision-making for the government. President Bush made it clear that he was in charge, that he was responsible for all major decisions.
President Obama has recently made decisions, and the process and results of the decision-making process are certainly much different from his predecessor. He has agonized for months over sending more troops to Afghanistan. The process of decision-making has been played out with a wide range of voices and numerous meetings leaked to the press. Even the top military commander, General McChrystal, went public with details of his confidential report.
The lack of clear decision-making is evident in two major conferences. The attendance of the President at the Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference and the U.S. position on climate change were not clear until just before the Conference. Similar indecision concerned the Second Review Conference of the Ottawa Treaty on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and the Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction in Cartagena. The U.S. finally decided to attend, but will not sign the Treaty nor stop their production of mines. In the cases of Copenhagen and Cartagena, the Obama Administration teases with its last minute presence, but has taken no leadership in making firm commitments to real change. The U.S. will be at both conferences, but will not commit.
Finally, President Obama had his first official State Dinner for Indian Prime Minister Singh just having returned from his first Asian trip. Having tried to enlist the Chinese in a sort of G2 global governance, President Obama tried to assuage the Indians with pomp and circumstance at the White House, but again no concrete change or results as he tries to play both sides.
When George Bush was President we complained that he was an emotional decider who did not fully appreciate all sides of an issue. Is President Obama the intellectual and emotional opposite, one who understands too many of the possible consequences of his actions and becomes paralyzed by all the possibilities? Is he The Undecider?
