Self-Advocacy Online Blog



Cliff Poetz is a Community Liaison with the Institute on Community Integration and a founding member of People First Minnesota.  He can be reached at


President Trump showed the country time and time again that he lacked the leadership needed to be the President of the United States. He did not listen to the advice of the CDC, doctors, experts, and professionals. He promoted the use of a drug that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. He was around a high-risk population at the war memorial without a mask on. He used the armed forces to push out peaceful protesters just for a photo op. He failed to concede when President-Elect Biden won the election and encouraged his followers to distrust our democracy, which resulted in violence at the capitol. As the president, you need to make tough decisions and you need to lead by example.

How are we supposed to get through this difficult time and the difficult times ahead without strong leadership? As the leader of our country, the president has to follow what the constitution says. Being a leader means not being afraid to tell people what they need to hear, whether it is good, bad, or very bad. The president has to make tough decisions and do the right thing. Some people may get upset at the decisions and some decisions may cause other problems and you have to live with that. Our next leader needs to listen to experts, and listen to what people need and want.

President Biden took leadership on January 20th and I hope we see a peaceful transition of power and steadier leadership in the new administration. President Biden needs to carefully consider all of his actions, including decisions about the pandemic. He will need to make sure everyone gets vaccinated in a timely manner and give everyone the support they need. Since he has spent a lot of time in Congress, he needs to use his knowledge of the process to make progress. The country expects President Biden to respond to current and future issues with common sense and logical action.