This post is basically an update to this one: https://danielbutterfield.com/2024/04/23/hate-to-even-have-to-express-this-my-ideal-kind-of-work-life/.
I’ll be honest… I was pretty terrified at the notion of serving as President-for-Life of the United States of America. I didn’t think I was suited for the role. I’m more of a workhorse, an information processor, than a social animal
But then I read up on it. The Executive Branch, the role of the President. Bought some books. I felt my confidence grow. I got a pretty good idea, to start, about how I would approach things.
I intend to start with a Discovery Phase: Get to know everything about and everyone at (within reason) The Fed.
I worked for a year and a season in the office of the General Manager of the Community Services Department of the City of Hamilton. On occasion, I’d fill in for the GM’s staff. We were regular staff, and the work we did would be submitted to the elected officials in City Council.
I got to know the government-work ethos there: We are being entrusted with the people’s tax dollars, their collected, pooled resources, so the work done must be effective, not at all wasteful, and accountable, such that it could be audited, on paper, just in case.
I went to business school, and I can’t help but see an organization, at the simplest level, as a collection of people working at something with a budget to do so. A budget to do so. An organization cannot become unviable because it cannot spend well.
Down the road, when my bandwidth allows: Wharton. I want the Wharton Executive MBA education.
I am also something of an originalist, and it stems from my personal experience that the United States, as well as Canada, is quite variegated regionally. My father’s family is from Michigan, and Michiganders are very distinctive. Western New York, near where I live, has its distinct character. I lived in the Bay Area when I was 11-12 years old. I’ve spent a bit of time at my parents’ place in Florida. In Michigan, we were on the Sunrise Side; in Florida, it’s the Space Coast.
Every state is different. With a unique history, culture, and in many cases, families who have lived there for generations. A big part of my plan for getting to know the role and work of the Executive Branch will be to get to know the States, all fifty of them, plus Puerto Rico and the other territories under U.S. authority. There are different people and different issues in each state. I intend to get to know them. I have a checklist going, of things I would like to be aware of.
I plan to undertake a similar systematic fact-finding and information-gathering mission for getting to know the countries of the world. The U.S. imports from and exports to other countries, and I want to know what those potential markets and suppliers are made of in terms of human and material resources. I want a complete understanding of the U.S. military, the branches of the service, and where America’s servicemen and women are stationed across the globe.
Unlike elected Presidents, I would be more like regular government, the career guys who stay in their roles while various elected officials come and go. There are a myriad of departments with a set of mandates to fulfill and a history of activity to familiarize myself with. That’s a lot to review, but I’m happy to do it. I’m only as good as what I’m aware of.
Photo credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Capitol_west_side.JPG
