The characteristics of the president vary greatly depending on the country, its history, socio-economic situation, and involvements in different conflicts, together with geopolitical implications. A relatively small country can look for a technocratic president, aimed not at a firm stance on the global arena but rather consolidating and expanding existing resources (Clifford, 2018). War-torn countries demand a strong-hand and decisive person, not necessarily qualified for being a president. Populist tendencies are now prevailing in Eastern Europe, where the uncertainty of the EU and long-lasting economic stagnation in the face of migrant issues and the ongoing pandemic drives charismatic and patriotic people to be eligible to rule the country. President can also lack almost all the qualities mentioned above, instead of compromising between business, tribal, and religious elites (as in the case of Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon).
In general, the president’s characteristics demanded by voters revolve around several qualities, for instance, honesty and trustworthiness. In the pandemic era, fake news and spreading of the internet, the enormous container of unreliable content, the issues of trust to the leader get probably the most attention. The leader’s patriotism has also never been in doubt by the voters since being a patriot to the country is definitely an essential trait (Aichholzer & Willmann, 2020). In recent times, the issue of open-mindedness is becoming more critical, especially in the young population. With the ongoing BLM, different LGBTQ movements are getting more followers, thus representing a way larger layer of society than before. Keeping in mind that the young population is sometimes the key to success in the voting, nowadays, presidents should address the issues of open-mindedness to win over the hearts and minds of millennials (Aichholzer & Willmann, 2020).
References
Aichholzer, J., & Willmann, J. (2020). Desired personality traits in politicians: Similar to me but more of a leader. Journal of Research in Personality, 88, 103990.
Clifford, S. (2018). Reassessing the structure of the presidential character. Electoral Studies, 54, 240-247.