Do military commanders make the best leaders?
| 07:48 UK time, Monday, 5 April 2010
Hi, Ian here from World Update.
There has been a fair bit of chatter lately about whether or not General David Petraeus might be eyeing a run for president in 2012. His recent visit to Saint Anselm College - a venue for past presidential debates in the key primary state of New Hampshire - started people.
The Daily Telegraph's US editor, Toby Harnden, made the case for a Petraeus bid
General Petraeus has said he hasn't in eight years.
Still, he's a registered Republican, and right leaning websites like the are carrying Harnden's pitch.
In New Hampshire, General Petraeus made it quite clear that he wasn't planning a run,
"I thought I've said 'no' as many ways as I could," he said. "I will not ever run for political office, I can assure you of that."
But the right leaning blog, , says he may yet be persuaded,
"the question with Petraeus is not whether he wants to do it, or is running to do it - but whether he would be willing to do it if prevailed upon by enough respected women and men on both sides of the aisle."
The chatter over a Petraeus run may remind some people of the pressure put on General Colin Powell to run for president in the mid-nineties. He declined any run, but went on to become Secretary of State in George W Bush's first administration.
American history has plenty of examples of military men who moved into politics. George Washington led the revolution before becoming the first president. Dwight Eisenhower was Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War before he was elected.
In the rest of the world, Israel has a tradition of military men going on to lead the country, and in Africa, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni was a military leader before becoming president, as was Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
So, what do you think? Do military commanders make the best leaders? We'll be looking at the issue this week on World Update.
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