Is The U.S. President The Most Powerful Man On Earth?

President Barack Obama meets with members of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House, January 29, 2010. The President’s chair is marked with a plaque engraved with the date of his inauguration. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Is The American President Still The Most Powerful Man On Earth? -- Sean Thomas, The Telegraph

It’s a commonplace of journalism to say that the President of the USA is “the most powerful man in the world”. Thus it was, before Obama’s State of the Union speech this week: pundits dutifully trotted out the phrase "the most powerful man on earth" as the dashingly besuited Mr Obama strode to his Washington lectern.

The only problem is that it’s now somewhat doubtful whether Obama is The Most Potent Hombre On The Planet. A rival and reasonable case can be made for the President of China, whose name I bet many of you don’t even know (and I confess I am not entirely sure either: I just had to Google it for good measure – it’s Xi Jinping).

I can hear the protests of Atlanticist readers already. America might be in relative decline but America still has the biggest GDP, the most advanced technology, the finest universities, and, of course, by far the world’s most impressive and expensive military. Right?

Read more ....

My Comment: The times have certainly changed. In the past .... many countries did look at the U.S. President as something more than just a leader of a country. While the U.S. President does have the economic and military clout of a great power .... he also had a certain "moral" position that if he exercised it properly would only enhance his clout and influence. Case in point .... when I was growing up in the Soviet Union I did not even bother listening to Jimmy Cater when he was President .... he was tuned out (or did not understand) what was happening in eastern Europe, and as a result made the situation worse for everyone. President Reagan was a different President who responded differently .... and while he had many critics in western Europe and in the U.S. on his policies .... he had an enormous impact in Eastern Europe because everyone understand the moral clarity that he brought to the table when confronting the scourge of Communism that even to this day .... from Russian President Putin on down .... give him credit for what he did.