Is A Good President a CEO? Or an Arbitrator?

Last night a friend described Joe Biden as an empty vessel.  It struck me immediately as an apt description, and along with it came a negative connotation I immediately linked to Joe Biden.

But as I think about it I realized maybe the negative connotation had more to do with the politics bequethed on us by ambition of politicans than what our founding fathers sought in our constitution.

Should we be looking for a President who is more like a CEO shaping the country to his/her vision?  Or an arbitrator who applies common sense to strike a balance between those committed to advancing particular ideas who are perhaps in too much of a hurry to implement their ideas to consider unintended consequences?

Certainly in reality a President needs to the capacity to wear both hats, so the question becomes one of which way a candidate might tilt.  Both views have their weaknesses.  

A president who is a committed advocate for a particular change will have a hard time not dismissing opposition rather than considering whether they have a good point.  I think of Viet-nam - Eisenhower, fundementally more of an arbitrator, limited our involvement in Viet-nam.  Kennedy, the idea man, the visionary, responded to the hyperbolic anti-communism of the time by pushing us too deep into the Vietnam to extract ourselves. 

An arbitrator on the other end may lean too far toward maintaining the status quo in the absence of overwhelming evidence. 

Our Constitution made Congress the body that makes law, not the President.  A powerful President sounded too much like it could evolve into a new King like the one they had just fought the Revolutionary War to get out from under.  George Washington was chosen as the first President because everybody respected him and he didn't advocate for any particular policy other than finding a way to preseve the new union.  Many Republican candidates in the 1800's who got elected routinely pledged to serve only one term and did step down at the end of the term.

To me there is no right answer.  But it is worth reminding ourselves as voters of the pluses and minuses of the two approaches to being President.  A President that can wear both hats is perhaps ideal.  But I do think Congress should be the initiator of change.  

At this time where we have a President who routinely fires anyone who questions what he thinks or says I would not be unhappy to see Bernie and Elizabeth remain in Congress to advocate for their positions and have a President perceived as more nuetral.