Obama Channels Lincoln in Campaign Against Islamic State

[Purveyor]

By Lisa Lerer and Mike Dorning Sep 17, 2014 10:48 AM ET

Abraham Lincoln did it when he inspected troops on Civil War battlefields. Lyndon Johnson flew to Vietnam to stand with soldiers. And George W. Bush donned a flight jacket during the Iraq war and landed on a U.S. carrier to declare “Mission Accomplished.”

Projecting a sense of command has always been an important ingredient of presidential leadership, particularly during military missions. The images don’t guarantee success; they do convey grit.

President Barack Obama, with a visit to the military’s central command today after going to the nation’s disease-control center yesterday, is trying to demonstrate his resolve in fighting two international scourges: Islamic State terrorists and the spreading Ebola virus.

The stops show Obama adopting a more muscular posture on foreign affairs, reversing the cautious and introspective style that has mostly defined his administration until now.

“What you see is a very cognitively impressive president who almost checks his charisma at the door once he’s in office,” said Fred Greenstein, an emeritus professor of politics at Princeton University in New Jersey. “It’s almost as if Superman went into the phone booth and came out as Clark Kent.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-17/obama-channels-lincoln-in-campaign-against-islamic-state.html

[Purveyor]

1. RELATED: With Speech at Central Command, Obama Aims to Demonstrate Military Resolve

With Speech at Central Command, Obama Aims to Demonstrate Military Resolve

By MICHAEL D. SHEARSEPT. 17, 2014

TAMPA, Fla. — A week after telling a war-weary nation that he has decided to expand airstrikes inside Iraq and Syria, President Obama planned to meet on Wednesday with his top military commanders for the region as he seeks to demonstrate his resolve and build public support for the fight against a new brand of terror.

At MacDill Air Force Base here, the president was due to receive a briefing from commanders of the United States Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. He was also expected to deliver remarks that aides described as part of his continuing effort to help Americans understand the need to confront the extremists halfway around the world.

Aides said Mr. Obama was in an intensive period of focus on national security abroad, which began with the speech announcing broader military action last Wednesday. It will continue next week in New York when Mr. Obama attends the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

A senior administration official, speaking on background to discuss planning for the president’s remarks in Tampa, said that officials believed it was important to provide context for Mr. Obama’s actions in the Middle East. The official said the American people expected the president to talk about the military operations and that the White House would be very focused on the effort for several weeks.

Mr. Obama’s comments at the military’s Central Command in Tampa, often referred to as Centcom, come just a day after Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the president’s top military adviser, generated headlines when he said on Tuesday that he might eventually recommend deploying ground troops in Syria if airstrikes are not sufficient to defeat the extremists.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/world/middleeast/obama-speech-central-command-isis-military-resolve.html?_r=0

[GeorgeGist]

2. It's a show.

Maybe that's all it's ever been.