What Makes a Good President?

And does Jon Stewart have those traits?

Should Jon Stewart run for president? The head of a PR firm thinks so, and that was enough to summon a chatter storm on Twitter. The question calls to mind a scene from Game of Thrones Season 4, which was back when the show was a vivid meditation on power and inhumanity, and before it became the intellectual equivalent of two clowns lighting their farts on fire. Here’s the scene (with some pre and post-scene analysis that I couldn’t get around):

I basically agree with Tywin (and I also would cast Charles Dance in literally anything, up to and including the lead role in a Serena Williams biopic). Wisdom is what makes a good ruler. But — as he asks — “What is wisdom, hmm?” Let’s unpack that a bit.

When thinking about what makes a good president, it’s tempting to simply list a billion positive traits. After all: A president should be strong, and smart, and enlightened, and informed, and compassionate, and steadfast, and limber, and a good cook, and they should smell like cinnamon, and be able to dunk, and own a bunch of cool shit, and know a few card tricks, and honestly being good at kung fu wouldn’t hurt. I’m sure we can all agree on that. But I’m trying to identify a few key traits that should be considered essential.

So, in no particular order, here are the traits that I think a good president needs to have.