Former President Bill Clinton said Thursday that Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan are a few figures from sports he could see making good presidents.
Kobe is “very smart, and he’s [an] instinctive leader,” Mr. Clinton said when asked on ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike” program who from the sports world would make the best president. “[Michael] Jordan was a good leader, you know — really smart.”
Mr. Clinton also said a lot of the golfers he’s talked with and played with over the years were “impressive and good.”
“Jack Nicklaus, I think, and Greg Norman’s not an American, but they were great organizers, you know, they built … big business empires, they built golf courses — it’s quite interesting to look at,” he said.
He also said he thought a lot of coaches he’s known would make good presidents.
“What did Pete Carroll do in the last quarter of the last game to turn that thing around?” Mr. Clinton said, referring to the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, who came back late in the fourth quarter to stun the Green Bay Packers with a 28-22 overtime win in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.
“I think there are a lot of people in sports who would do quite well in public office … not just because they’re just inspirational and because they lead by example, but because they’re highly intelligent — they have to think through these things and make instantaneous decisions among several alternatives all the time,” Mr. Clinton said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.