Blogstyle meTotem

My father-in-law, Bob, has created a product he call meTotem. It is a plastic totem pole with the faces of twelve presidents. Why twelve? Because there have been twelve presidents (so far) in Bob's lifetime and those are the ones he used when constructing the prototype. (No, I haven't asked him what he plans to do in two years when another president is sworn into office.) When I first saw this product, I must admit my initial reaction was, "huh?" Why create a plastic totem pole of presidents? It struck me as odd. But he mentioned it in his Christmas letter and I have been thinking about it and I must admit, I am grooving on it more and more (and I am not just saying that because Fred told his parents how to find my blog). Seriously, I like the idea of having all the presidents available to choose from and having to pick your favorite twelve. I wonder if the requirement of choosing would make one think about what makes a great leader, what makes a great person and, maybe, ask themselves if it is possible to be both. Also, since it would expand beyond one's lifetime presidents, one can ask themselves if great leadership is something that must be seen through the prism of history.

So, in honor of Bob's invention, I have decided to write some essays about presidents every now and then. I warn you in advance, my essays won't necessarily be about what the presidents did in office or about presidents whose views I supported. I hope you like my totem pole of essays.