Last week, David Frost gave us another glimpse into the psychology of Ross Perot. In an interview on PBS, Frost asked Perot, “What do you think are your flaws that you are aware of?”
Perot answered as follows: “Well, particularly where politics are concerned, I am results-oriented. . . . In politics, I am not an actor. I don’t want to be an actor. . . . I write my own speeches. That’s probably a flaw. You say, ” Boy, it’s obvious, Ross.” Okay, but what you see is what you get. And I guess another flaw around politics is standing on principles. So I will stand on principle and fight for what I believe in. And that’s a flaw. And again, if you come to a true flaw, it is very hard for me to suffer fools gladly. And that — you know, around politics you learn to just grin and expect to have it.”
Frost zeroed in on the particular flaw in Perot’s presentation. “You’ve listed five virtues rather than five flaws, in fact,” Frost said. “All of those things are basically good for you that you’ve mentioned.”
After some brief back and forth, Perot announced his biggest flaw: “Four years ago I didn’t know that much about politics. I was shocked when I got close to it. Now, that’s probably a flaw that I should have. I was just shocked at the total absence of any kind of ethics.”
It is, of course, a common human weakness for people to mask their vanity in self-criticism: Self-promoters often tell you that their biggest problem is their generosity, or that they care too much. But it is vital for political figures to have even just a dollop of self-deprecation; without it, they become tyrants, if you see what we’re getting at.
