Finding leaders is a problem because most people who go into politics, even if they start with high ideals, come to realize there is a climate of wheeling and dealing, corruption, and lobbying for special interests. In other words, the best and the brightest are reduced to having to “play politics.”

Of course, it is always the nation’s people who suffer, and until the system is free of influential big money, the system will give us leaders who must “play” and we are the ones being played for fools.

President Obama is a first rate example of someone with high ideals for reform and change. His political enemies quite quickly realized that his willingness to listen and try to compromise with their ideas. This allowed them to over and over again take advantage and shoot down all his reforms, such as universal health care. Those programs they did not shoot down, they loaded up with hostage-style demands. This is what happend with the debt celiling debacle.

How do we find leaders who will lead? There are many factors that are required, and it is uncertain, given the amount of free reign given to policy- makers in recent years, that anyone other than a benevolent despot could attain such leadership. The most important thing needed for good leaders to rise is absolute public insistence and demand that corrupt money influences be reformed. A second step would be for voters to vote their interests, not what some loud pundit shouts at them to do.

Recent books reveal that truly great leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and his cousin, FDR, are often somewhat manic in their energy, and huge believers in the possibility of greatness for their nation. They also led at times there was crisis, but they were afforded powers few leaders could get past the house and senate these days.

Leaders who are more interested in greatness than public perception are able to allow that others hate them. Lincoln, for example would lose many, many popularity contests, and was reviled greatly right up until his assassination. We often forget that universally loved figures were usually quite loathed in their time.

A great leader will also clearly see what divides people. Don’t bring religion into office, for example, unless you are prepared to hold entirely equal respect and reverence toward Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindu, heathens and atheists. Favoring any ONE religion is the same as saying, “All you others are second class citizens.” It invites conflict.

Often what makes a great leader is often that he or she is above average in every way. It has become a dangerous trend to elect people who are just “regular folks” although any close examination reveals they have many more millions stuffed away than your average Joe. Also, just because you can sell yourself as a populist, and you can talk in simple language and a folksy style, does not mean that you are qualified to win a major seat in leadership.

If he or she is not adept at scientific principles, they should be able to consult and be advised by scientists, engineers, and others who can truly explain the many challenges of the world today. Some of these sciences include: Economic policy that is proven to work historically. What is the real situation with Climate change, and what green jobs can we create? How much planning and reform is needed for FEMA for the next inevitable disaster? If we must fight wars, how should they be funded? What regulatory reforms will ward off bank collapse, recession, bail outs, and unemployment? How do we repair our crumbling infrastructure and bring jobs back to America? These really tough questions, are all but ignored in the present divisive blame each other situation we are in.

A great leader knows united we stand and divided we fall. We are all falling at present.

Lastly, a good leader reflects a genuine connection to people for whom he or she is working, not a populist image, but a real understanding of what working class people, and impoverished people, and not just business people, are going through in their lives. There is a greater disparity between the super wealthy and the poor than we have seen in almost a century. A reformer like Teddy Roosevelt showed up then, we have to find and support one for the 21st century.