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Happy President's day! Did you know many presidents were authors?
What do presidents and writing have in common? Well, for one, a lot of writing is involved with the job of being a president, but, two, a lot of presidents were actually authors. It makes you wonder, does writing make you a leader?
Let's first take a look at how many presidents were authors. It turns out about half of them were. Some of the well-known presidents who were authors were Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and more.
There seems to be a high correlation between being an author and being a president but is this because the more educated in the past knew how to write, or is it because being a president takes great communication and deep thought?
If we look at history, writing hasn't always been easy. Not only was education unequal among the masses, but obtaining the materials were even more difficult. Not only this but having excellent penmanship also decided who could be a writer and who could not.
However, while having the ability to write was not common throughout most of history, according to academicpartnership.edu literacy in the United States and Europe in the 1920s, was reaching nearly 70 percent.
Perhaps education alone is not what makes a compelling leader.
Perhaps a good leader needs to be a good communicator. When someone writes, they take time to gather their thoughts, and their brain's create new neuro pathways in order to connect ideas and articulate them.
The ability to tell a story is also incredibly valuable. The human mind is more easily prone to remember a story than a speech. President Abraham Lincoln once said, "People remember stories better than facts and figures. Stories have a beginning, middle, and an end." Lincoln didn't have a proper education, yet he was very well-liked and persuasive; his ability to tell stories helped make him a good leader.
So what makes a good leader? While various things make a good leader, it is my opinion that learning how to write can help you become a better communicator, which ultimately can help you become a better leader.