Presidents Under Fire Essay, Research Paper

Presidents under Fire

Ryan Spicer

English 1010 FC

10/5/98

Sex scandals, Poor Economics, and Public Relations are all problems that are being faced by the Worlds most powerful leaders. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin are both under steady attack from other would be political leaders. But does this pressure take away time that could better be spend on running they country?

Political instability has rocked the country of Russia. Still in it’s infancy; Russia has only had 1 leader since the demise of the Soviet Union. His name is Boris Yeltsin. He accepted the presidency with the intention to build a new country with capitalism. This is quite a task, but he accepted it head on and has stuck to that goal. But the economy is quickly going down in value. The Ruble (Russian currency) is worth virtually nothing. In the United States Bill Clinton is under investigation concerning his alleged affair with a White House Intern. Mr. Clinton has made several public speeches denying the relationship but later came clean with the public concerning the matter. But with all the public attention brought up concerning both Presidents, how are they expected to run their countries if they spend most of their time defending themselves.

Mr. Yeltsin has made several questionable moves, including firing and the re-hiring government officials. He is trying to get his country back into order. The President has a Parliament screaming to have him resign, and all the while he is being distracted from the task at hand. He has a government to run. In public speeches Mr. Yeltsin sticks to his Laisezz faire approach to government. That means he lets the economy run its self. There is no governmental interaction with the economy. He sticks to this as his defense and he believes in it. But everyday he is attacked by the media, and government officials who want change. With this as his only defense he is quickly losing the faith of the people whom elected him. But on the other side of the world there is a different crisis to debate. Mr. Clinton is in the public doldrums of verbal attack by the media and governmental stagnation. No one in the government wants to be associated with Mr. Clinton anymore. Even most of his elected party has severed ties with the President. He is quickly losing the support of his people as well.

Mr. Yeltsin has been hard at work, putting countless hours into solving the financial crisis. All the while taking the beating being dealt out by newspapers and on TV. Mr. Yeltsin has made several questionable moves, including firing and the re-hiring government officials. Mr. Yeltsin is trying to get his country back into order. He has a Parliament screaming to have him resign, and all the while he is being distracted from the task at hand. He has a government to run. In public speeches Mr. Yeltsin sticks to his Laisezz faire approach to government. That means he lets the economy run its self. There is no governmental interaction with the economy. He sticks to this as his defense and he believes in it. But everyday he is attacked by the media, and government officials who want change. With this as his only defense he is quickly losing the faith of the people whom elected him. But on the other side of the world there is a different crisis to debate. Mr. Clinton spends most of his time not running the country but preparing to defend himself if he should be forced to go to impeachment hearings. With having made several public speeches denying the relationship, he later admitted to some indecent actions but covered his actions with a confusing trail of moral jargon. This is not the first time Mr. Clinton has been investigated for something. He has also been investigated for a failed Financial Deal before his term of office as well as a sexual encounter during his term of office as Governor of Arkansas.

Public Relations are a big problem with both Presidents. Mr. Clinton is very selective with his public statements. He does this to cover himself for legal reasons. But it is very obvious during every public speech that he is hiding information. This “Adds fuel to the Fire” so to speak. Mr. Yeltsin uses the simple up-front opproach of telling the simple truth and sticking by his values. The only problem is that in today’s world things are a little more complicated. Dealing with the blame forced upon them, whether it is deserved or not is a big problem. With both Presidents being attacked everyday, they are losing more votes than they are gaining all the while trying to run the two most powerful governments in the World.

In conclusion I think that Scandals and Financial troubles are causing a bigger problem than they are. It distracts from the job, which is a big job to begin with. These people are businessmen, and their job is to conduct business. They are not elected to battle of claims against their integrity. Some problems may be brought along by them or are brought along by the development of a country. In either case the job is turning into less of job and more of a personal battle to defend themselves.

Bibliography

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