Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Mon, Jul 20 1992 Date: Mon, 20 Jul 92 04:12:10 EDT Message-ID: 07-20 0000 BONUS: Oval Office, biz an odd mix USA TODAY Update July 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Once there was a billionaire industrialist, an up-from-the-bootstraps fellow - a man of action - who built a high-tech business with his bare hands. Then came a ground swell of support from the common man. Buttons and banners. Petitions and volunteers. And he was pushed by a grass-roots movement into an undeclared bid to be President of the United States. DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? For elections in 1924 as in 1992, a disgruntled and disgusted electorate turned to a well-known businessman to bring change to a nation mired in political paralysis. Then it was Henry Ford. "He was an idea man, a can-do guy. People could say, `He's just like me, except he's got a billion dollars,' " David Lewis, author of The Public Image of Henry Ford, says of Ford. That, too, is Perot's public image, circa 1992. IS PEROT THE FIRST BUSINESSMAN TO CONSIDER HIGH OFFICE? Perot, who withdrew from the presidential campaign on Thursday, is by no means the first businessman with no political experience to be mentioned as "presidential timber." Think Lee Iacocca. Peter Ueberroth. Donald Trump. None has been elected. None likely will be. WHY DOES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE FAIL IN POLITICS? The very strength of business leaders is what fails them as politicians. A boss can give orders. A president must build consensus. A boss works behind the scenes. A president is in full public view. A CEO has people who work for him. A president has people who are working against him. A CEO can fire all his employees; a president can hire or fire only 2,000 of 5 million federal workers. A CEO can make a decision and that's that because he's the boss. His decisions aren't second-guessed by the media. In fact, his decisions may not even be known to the media. WHY DO VOTERS LOOK TO BUSINESSMEN? Because they run huge organizations, people think they can bring change to a huge organization like the federal government. A CEO makes a decision, and it's carried out. That's what people want. "You don't sound like a politician - and goodness knows, the general public is fed up with politicians," says Donald Frey, a former CEO of Bell & Howell, who now teaches management science at Northwestern University. "Businessmen sound like they could get control, and get this country organized." WHY DO BUSINESSMEN BELIEVE THEY CAN MAKE IT IN POLITICS? To the business leader - used to having his orders followed - a job like cleaning up the government seems easy. Just do it. "These guys have tremendous egos - they think they can do anything," says Lewis. The public sees business leaders as political outsiders who can "clean out the barn," as Perot said. The problem is businessmen don't like to get their hands dirty. "I always used to say I'd love to run for office," Lee Iacocca told USA TODAY. "But I'd rather just get appointed. I don't want to run." ARE BUSINESSMEN QUALIFIED? The fact is, as attractive as the entrepreneur or corporate chieftain is, or as well as he has done in business, he still may may be uniquely unqualified for the job of President of the United States. That's one reason other CEOs were reluctant to support the Perot candidacy, says Frey. At a May meeting of the Business Council, a group of CEOs, USA TODAY found strong negative feelings toward a Perot candidacy. Asked what advice the CEOs would give to a President Perot: "Resign if you want to help the country," said Howard Allen, chairman of Southern California Edison. HOW HAVE BUSINESSMEN DONE AT THE POLLS? Without fail the past 50 years, the U.S. voter has elected professional politicians to the nation's top job - U.S. senators, governors and vice presidents seeking to move up. Not one single businessman. "Oh, they get mentioned - and they might stick their toe in. But that's as far as it goes," says Stephen Hess, a presidential expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington."Even though, `The business of America is business,' as (Calvin) Coolidge said, it's really amazing how seldom the American people have turned to business leaders for political leadership." HAVE ANY OF THEM GOTTEN VERY FAR? Only Wendell Willkie, a utility company executive who despised Franklin Roosevelt, went as far as getting a nomination. He became the Republican nominee for the 1940 election - barely three months after declaring interest. He lost, badly. "He was a fluke," says Hess. HAVE ANY NON-POLITICIANS MADE IT TO THE TOP OFFICE? Only Dwight Eisenhower, a general, came from outside the ranks of professional politicians to become the U.S. president, from 1953-61. But he was a war hero, the winner of World War II. Other war heros are mentioned, too, like Gens. Norman Schwartzkopf and Colin Powell. HAVE BUSINESSMEN EVER CONTROLLED THE OVAL OFFICE? The American love:hate relationship with businessmen as potential presidents is strictly a 20th century phenomenon. "In the 19th century, businessmen just bought their politicians - or their daughters married them," says Hess. Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller's son married the daughter of Nelson Aldrich, a powerful senator from Rhode Island. Their son: Former vice president Nelson Rockefeller. And in the early 20th century - as in the later 20th century - the businessman's appeal is tied to the nation's economy. DID PEROT AND FORD HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON? Both Ross Perot and Henry Ford held the same appeal as an insider in business and an outsider in politics. Both entrepreneurs came to the forefront in a time of economic uncertainty; there was a recession in 1920 and early 1921, and today the lingering effects of the 1990-91 recession remain a constant worry. Ford was a working man's hero - he'd just doubled his workers' daily wage to $5, and he sold 2 million Model Ts in 1923, a level of car sales the company wouldn't reach again until 1955. WHAT WAS THE ATTRACTION TO PEROT? The Perot myth was at least as strong - a classic American individualist who could rescue employees from Iranian prisons, build a company, make a fortune, take on General Motors and take no guff. Ford, unlike Perot, didn't lift a finger to campaign, and only briefly considered making a run for office in 1922, when Ford for President clubs were formed. Then his wife, Clara, threatened to move to England if he moved to Washington. So he dropped the idea. WOULD FORD HAVE BEEN A GOOD PRESIDENT? "Actually, Henry Ford would have been a disaster as a president," says author Lewis. "He flitted from one thing to another. Teamwork was never his strong suit. He couldn't have gotten along with the government. It's likely Ford would have been the first president to throw up his hands, just walk out of the White House and say, `I quit!' " Perot just did that sooner. Bonus Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM