The Ungrateful President - NYTimes.com
“He comes from the neediest profession of all, except for acting, but he is not needy and he doesn’t fully understand the neediness of others; it’s an abstraction to him,” says Jonathan Alter, who wrote “The Promise” about Obama’s first year in office and is working on a sequel. “He’s not an ungracious person, but he can be guilty of ingratitude. It’s not a politically smart way for him to operate.”
Newman wanted to be an actor, not a movie star. Obama wants to be a policy maker, not a glad-handing pol. Sometimes after political events, even small meetings, he requires decompression time. Unlike Harry Truman or George Bush senior, he prefers not to mix relaxing with networking. He sticks mostly to golf with his male aides.
“Needy politicians, like Bill Clinton, recharge at political events,” says Alter. “But, for Obama, they deplete rather than create energy.”
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Introverts dilemma. He's a classic ENTP, like Steve Jobs.
If Obama and Steve Jobs had a conversation, what would they talk about?
Jobs, who was known for his prickly, stubborn personality, almost missed meeting President Obama in the fall of 2010 because he insisted that the president personally ask him for a meeting. Though his wife told him that Obama "was really psyched to meet with you," Jobs insisted on the personal invitation, and the standoff lasted for five days. When he finally relented and they met at the Westin San Francisco Airport, Jobs was characteristically blunt. He seemed to have transformed from a liberal into a conservative.
"You're headed for a one-term presidency," he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where "regulations and unnecessary costs" make it difficult for them.
Jobs also criticized America's education system, saying it was "crippled by union work rules," noted Isaacson. "Until the teachers' unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform." Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/steve-jobs-biography-obama_n_1022786.html
But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?
Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.
Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.
Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said, according to another dinner guest.
LOL. Obama v. Jobs: two most confident and outspoken Americans facing off.
So Steve Jobs REFUSED to bring jobs back to the U.S., right to Obama's face.
Ironic that his last name is JOBS.
China is so polluted the Olympics were at risk: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/front_page/6934955.stm. I'm sure to Steve Jobs all that EPA crap is unnecessary regulation.
I don't think the unions will go for safety nets to prevent worker suicide either.
While there is room for change on the US front, don't expect us to become China either.
Most multi-nationals in the US dont care about the welfare of the citizens of other countries, e.g. oil and gas industry, electronics manufacturing, clothes. It doesn't make it OK, but I don't think apple is "thinking different." Also jobs clearly stated there were simply not enough skilled American manufacturing labor at the scale apple needs.
I agree that most multi-nationals think that way, but Jobs was the one making those points to President Obama. We have plenty of skilled labor in manufacturing, but you will not get them at the nearly the same price. It also does not have to be all or nothing. The autos for example have plants here, in Canada, Mexico, and receive foreign parts as well.
The bigger picture is that you can outsource certain jobs and still grow jobs. For example the apple developers and engineers in the US. The app store developers, the Apple Store employees, all the other Apple products (cases, chargers, etc).
I'm still not sure that those $12-an-hour Apple store employees are treated right, either.
See: http://pandawhale.com/convo/2782/lessons-from-apple-diane-ravitchs-blog
Couple friends in the apple retail manager program thingamajig, hope to hear more from them soon!
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