According to former George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, a college prez has to
| AP |
possess myriad qualities to succeed in the job. Chief among them: “It is important for a president to keep in tune with the zeitgeist. It will not do if you don’t know who Bono is, for instance.”
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In his new book, “Big Man on Campus,” due out next week, Trachtenberg writes that a top educator must also display “the iron endurance of Cal Ripken. … The spontaneous rhetorical ability of Winston Churchill. … The ability of Harry Houdini to get out of tight situations. The conciliatory powers of Abraham Lincoln. The storytelling talent of Stephen King.”
Other gems in the book:
- While vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard, he once skipped a two-day waiting list to have his toilet fixed because the plumber’s child went to GW.
- He confesses that he is not proud of “the way I related to women when I was a younger man.”
- Trachtenberg, a Democrat, once told Colin Powell: “General, there is talk that you might run for president, and I surely hope you will do it. If you do, I’ll take a year’s leave from the university and, because I used to be a reasonably good speech writer, I think I could make a contribution to your campaign.”
Finally, he clears up the elephant in the room: George Washington University (mascot: The Colonials) “don’t own Colonial Parking.”
