Trump agrees to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, South Korea says

[Dill]

(03-09-2018, 03:50 PM)bfine32 Wrote: When it comes right down to it; POTUS is really nothing more than a figure head. Folks will either point to his strengths or weaknesses depending on how they feel about him as a person.

For a lot of people, this is still not true.

There are still many who assess what a president does and how he does it, regardless of how they feel about him as a person.
And they assess both strengths and weaknesses.

E.g., many, like me, dislike Nixon the person, but respect some of his foreign and domestic policy accomplishments.  I like Ford as a person, but don't really see any "strengths" in his presidency beyond holding down the fort without burning it down.

Sometimes, though, "the person" can be a factor, if that person's signature is bad judgment in public and private life. A person who seems self involved and ignorant of how government actually works, then many will "feel" he is a bad choice for the country, but they would not be basing their judgment on "how they feel," but upon the actual behavior, limitations, qualities (or lack thereof) of that individual.

No POTUS is "nothing more than a figure head." As individuals they always have the greatest single effect on foreign and domestic policy.  A decision to remain in Vietnam or to open the door to China, or to sign a bill lowering taxes on the 1%, or to broker an Iran deal (or to scrap it), has immense effect on the economy and security of the U.S.  Skill, competence, knowledge, judgment--all that matters more in a US president than for any other office on the planet.