Charismatic Leader

In the run up of his first US presidential candidate along with Al Gore, George W. Bush became the joke of many democrats who regard him as the first ever geographically challenged personality and hence doesn’t suit minimum requirement to be the president of USA, the only world superpower in the world. Moreover if compared to his opponent– Al Gore, who’ve just released his book at the time, indicating that he’s much more deserved to be the winner–Bush way behind in anything more than one. Yet, Bush now enjoys the second term of his presidency. In hindsight, Bush has something Al Gore doesn’t: charisma. What’s that?

I know, you might disagree with me regarding the charisma issue. Especially if you are a democrat or pro-democrat in spirit (in case you are not US citizen). You’re right. Many political reasons behind–local and international–his twice win. However, without any charisma involved, he wouldn’t even reach the final candidacy within Republican itself, would he?

Now, what’s charisma? It’s an aura; some say it’s God gifted attached to him/her since he/she’s born. Great personality always brings with him/her an aura, an attractiveness and mass appeal which is very hard to understand and to emulate.

You could be an expert like Stephen Hawking; a nuclear scientist, an IT genius, etc if you learn and work hard to fulfill whatever you want to be. But to be a charismatic leader– like our own Presiden Sukarno, founding father of Indonesia, Mahatma Ghandi, father of the nation of India, John F. Kennedy president of USA–is another matter. It’s not impossible to be like them, if you trying hard, although it’s highly unlikely.

And that’s why we’ve seen so many experts feel secure by taking shelter under not-so-clever-yet-charismatic leader. No body thinks Megawati Sukarnoputri is an expert; she’s even didn’t finish her bachelor studies. But look someone around her: professors, Doctors from prominent universities in the world, etc. Just like many professors and doctors such as Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz et.al under the feet of Bush and. In other words, World seems to be doing injustice as far as charisma-expertise goes: why charismatic yet dummy personality has more influence than skillful-yet-capable one? Why a hardworking person should bow under a moron feet?