When handling the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, then-US President John F. Kennedy was repeatedly pressured by his staff to bomb Cuba's ballistic missile bases, or to search any ships entering the quarantined zone. If he had accepted any of the suggestions, a war, or even a nuclear war, might have been launched.
Kennedy, however, would never start a war at will. During the 13-day crisis, his primary concern was for US soldiers who might have been sacrificed due to the abuse of political power.
Consequently, he ordered covert U-2 flight inspections instead of an air attack while he sent US warships to supervise the ships near the quarantined zone instead of searching them.
Because of his self-discipline in the use of his power as head of the state, the crisis was resolved.
Every president should learn from Kennedy. US President George W. Bush, nevertheless, launched an attack against Iraq on Feb. 16 right after becoming commander in chief of the military, little more than a month earlier.
He later told the media that the attack was an act of self-defense and a routine task.
Comparing Bush with Kennedy, my conclusion is that recent US presidents seem to be worse than their predecessors (
More importantly, Bush was not aware of the significance of launching a war. Both from his explanations as well as his facial expression which showed no sympathy, my other conclusion is that, not only does he not have an idea how significant a war is, he does not have any idea how to properly exercise his power.
Perhaps we can justify Bush's wrongdoing by saying that he has just taken up his post.
However, it was clearly abuse of power when his preceder, former president Bill Clinton, pardoned billionaire financier Marc Rich the day before leaving office.
Thus, two US presidents from different political parties have misused their power within a month, drawing severe criticism both domestically and internationally. No wonder the US media recently commented that US politicians don't know how to properly exercise their power.
More absurdly, both Bush and Clinton refused to admit their wrong decisions. After being attacked by the media worldwide, Bush has temporarily decided to shut his mouth. Clinton, however, wrote a letter to the New York Times defending himself.
In Clinton's letter, he cited former president Ronald Reagan's pardon of 406 people, Jimmy Carter's pardon of 566 people, Gerald Ford's 140 pardons, and George Bush's 77.
He was attempting to prove that he did not misuse his authority since he only pardoned 140 people during his term. Nevertheless, he seemingly forgot that even if he pardoned one person who should not have been freed, he was misusing his authority.
Some questioned how Clinton could be so stupid to pardon Rich, whose former wife has donated huge sums of money to Clinton's library. According to a famous columnist, all powerful people tend to abuse their power almost in a "self-destroying" way (
For example, former US President Richard Nixon erased a tape recorded in the Oval Office, which served as a key piece of evidence in his impeachment trial. Thus, Clinton's abuse of power was simply another case of those in power brazenly misusing their authority.
Wang Chien-chuang is the president of The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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