Peace and prosperity. During the last decade of the 20th century, Americans enjoyed more of both than any other people in history. Not all Americans, but most. Certainly most voters….Now both peace and prosperity seem uncertain.

…Through the fog of partisanship, we can acknowledge that both candidates are good men. But good isn’t enough. This time we need greatness.

Greatness is a compliment generally conferred in retrospect. We have lucked out several times in our history when implausible characters showed unexpected greatness when it was needed: a country lawyer from Illinois, a spoiled patrician in a wheelchair, to name two obvious examples. Even more miraculous (though troublesome for democracy), both Lincoln and F.D.R. were elected by promising more or less the opposite of what they did in office. Lincoln said he’d preserve the institution of slavery. F.D.R. said he’d balance the federal budget.

…unfortunately, our current political system seems designed to weed out precisely the qualities that are most needed at the moment.

One attribute we don’t need, although commonly associated with greatness in a leader, is empathy.

…What we need instead from a leader is astringency. Astringency means telling people what they don’t want to hear and leading them where they don’t want to go. It’s not comforting people about their current situation and reassuring them it will get better. It’s telling them that the situation is likely to get worse and that only their efforts can determine how soon it will start getting better.

…A second desirable quality of leadership, especially now, is toxic even to mention for its allegedly élitist overtones: intelligence. Not necessarily anything as crude as raw IQ scores…Call it intellectual curiosity, perhaps, or a willingness to engage with complicated ideas. …on balance it would be a plus to have a President who is smart. Maybe even really, really smart.