It's impossible to tell how the Obama presidency will work out, it's simply to early, in fact, he hasn't even started. So there's is no point in speculating how the man will perform until we've oberved him at work for a while. The success of his presidency will depend on a variety of factors, including his own personal qualities and the challenges he will face, the political conditions, and the ideology of those evaluating him.

Having said that, it is worthwhile to consider the apparent personal characteristics that lead to a man's election to the highest office in the land, particularly intelligence. I say "apparent" because we really can't tell a man's intelligence without knowing him personally for a long time, and because we only have the vaguest idea what intelligence really is in the first place. Still, I personally place a very high value on intelligence, I believe it is important, perhaps the most important characteristic I want in my leaders and in my friends.

Obama appears to be a very intelligent man, but more important and more objectively verifiable, he makes no effort to disguise his intelligence. This is really remarkable for an American presidential candidate. It's not that his opponents are not as, or more, intelligent than he. Just running for national office must imply some sort of intellectual capability, even if only animal cunning, as well as other related qualities such as determination, ambition, leadership, knowledge, communication skills, charisma,---well, I could go on. Most of those who make it to a national electoral contest are probably quite intelligent (I can think of some exceptions, but I won't go there today). What is remarkable about Obama is that he displays the public characteristics we tend to associate with intelligence, an introspective and articulate mind and a deliberate and measured non-emotional way about communicating his preferences. Unlke many other candidates in my memory, he is not only smart, he makes no effort to hide it.

The American people have always distrusted intelligence, they have associated it with elitism and aristocratic disdain for the masses, it is almost considered effeminate and cowardly. Intelligence in your work, or in a specific field may be admired, whether it be businessman or football coach, but general intelligence across a wide variety of fields, what we usually associate with an educated and an introspective mind, has always been suspect. No one wants to be a "brain" in school, and it is not desireable to be a smarty pants, a smart mouth, or even a wise ass. Smart people are weak, indecisive, too abstract, devious, suspect in their motives, and incapable of dealing with the real world. "Intellectual" has become a dirty word, and those with "common sense", who are simple, straightforward, straight-talkers, no-bullshit types, are prized, almost as if intelligence somehow ruled out these characteristics. Our brightest leaders have made every effort to disguise their intelligence, or at least, to avoid letting anyone think they might have too much of it. Those who haven't, like Adlai Stevenson, have been rejected.

This disdain for an exposed or public intelligence, or even its outward appearance, seems to be a peculiarly American characteristic. It certainly isn't due to an inherent lack of intelligence in Americans, we are no brighter or duller than anyone else, but it is a cultural characteristic I noticed even as a child, growing up in an immigrant household. I was always taught that it was desireable to be as intelligent as possible, or to con people into thinking you were , either through personal study or formal education. But I quickly learned otherwise at school, and by watching TV and movies. Smart people were dorks. At least I was smart enough to pick up on that. And I know I was smart enough to pick up that many of my classmates, the smart ones, had picked up on it too. They did their best to hide it, and they were as delighted as I was when we made contact and gained enough trust that we could stop pretending to each other we were stupid. I have never encountered this attitude amongst other cultures and nationalities I am familiar with, and being bi-cultural myself, I dare to think I can see this more clearly than the average American. I consider myself quite attuned to cultural differences because I have always had an alternate culture to my own to make comparisons and contrasts with. How this came about in a nation founded by formidable intellectuals who were also intensely practical and capable men of action, like in the Classical civilizations they were educated to revere, will always be a mystery to me.

Regardless of the cultural reasons, I believe this election is a hint of a shift in this attitude amongst the population of this country. A corner of sorts has been turned. It is clear that whether or not Obama is sufficiently intelligent to deal with his presidency remains to be seen, and it is equally clear that intelligence alone may not be sufficient to manage the nation's government effectively. But I have more grounds for optimism for the future of this democracy, more than I did just a year ago. Obama didn't get elected in spite of his brains, but because of them.