Personal+qualities+Mao+and+Nasser

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 * __Leader__**
 * Personal Qualities**
 * I. Explanation**
 * **Physical characteristics**
 * Physical appearance plays an integral role in the development of an image of the leader that demonstrates power and strength.
 * **Intelligence**
 * The leader must be able to propose and discuss a program for reform and advancement for the country with authority on the subject. The leader must be able to convince the masses that his ideas are necessary for the successful advancement of the nation in the future.
 * **Personal skills and qualities**
 * Valuable skills, such as good oratorical skills and writing ability, are combined with personal qualities, such as personal charm, to create a confident, yet sincere leader. The leader should be able to appeal to the masses on a personal level, as well as on a political/intellectual level.
 * **Ability to recruit**
 * The leader should be able to gain and maintain the support of other significant officials within the country. Also, the leader should be able to maintain popular support; this is a key component of the personal qualities of the leader, because the ability to maintain support indicates that he is performing in a way that is “overwhelmingly popular.”
 * **Personal history**
 * The leader’s history demonstrates what they were able to do in the past (be it participate in combat, experience personal hardship, or fight against persecution), and is often utilized by the leader as a validation for their leadership ability in the future.
 * **Motivation**
 * The leader must be committed to his cause, and should have the necessary motivation to succeed.
 * II. Mao**
 * **Physical characteristics**
 * Mao was overweight and is said to have practiced bad hygiene. He had a high-pitched voice, and was placed on [|Time’s Top 10 Worst Dressed World Leaders List].
 * **Intelligence**
 * Mao was educated initially “in the classics at a primary school in the village of Shaoshan,” but ran away to Changsha to continue his education at the age of thirteen ( "Mao Zedong”). During this portion of his education, Mao became more aware of Western ideas and the revolutionary movement in China.
 * Mao became a teacher through a teachers' training college in 1918, demonstrating his desire to be more intelligent than his peasant origins normally would have allowed.
 * **Personal skills and qualities**
 * Mao loved to swim, and he utilized his love of swimming to advocate building strength in the “bodies of Chinese citizens” (“Mao Zedong”).
 * Mao was very practiced and conscious of how he was presented and portrayed to the public. As a result, his speeches were often read, which gave him complete control over what he shared with the public.
 * **Ability to recruit**
 * Before he became a leader, Mao established the New People's Study Society, which emphasized participation in public affairs; incidentally, many members “later became prominent members of the Chinese Communist Party” (“Mao Zedong”).
 * **Personal history**
 * Mao was born to a wealthy-peasant family in the Hunan province of China. This became significant after Mao began to advocate a rural, peasant based revolution—Mao was able to appeal on a more personal level.
 * After China had become a republic, Mao joined the revolution as a common soldier.
 * Participated in the May Fourth Movement and helped found the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai in 1921.
 * **Motivation**
 * Mao was extremely invested in his political endeavors; he manipulated the Marxist ideology to focus on a rural-peasant based revolution, which tied in with his origins in the Hunan province of China. Mao went to great lengths to achieve his goals (for example, the Cultural Revolution that took place under Mao’s rule).


 * III. Nasser**
 * **Physical characteristics**
 * Nasser was tall, always dressed professionally, and carried himself confidently.
 * **Intelligence**
 * Nasser was well educated in military strategy and operations, and he used this, as well as his connections with revolutionary groups, to attain his power and formulate his foreign policy plans.
 * **Personal skills and qualities**
 * Nasser was charismatic and gave moving speeches that played upon the emotions of Egyptians (specifically) and the ideas behind pan-Arabism.
 * **Ability to recruit**
 * Nasser was able to retain support for his regime by maintain a strong stance against Western powers and Israel, and by promoting pan-Arabism.
 * **Personal history**
 * Born to a peasant family in Egypt in 1918.
 * Maintained his stance firmly against Western (British) occupation in Egypt.
 * Achieved the rank of second lieutenant in the army after attending a military academy (“ Gamal Abdel Nasser”).
 * Nasser participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, surviving the war with one of the only “successful” Arab efforts during that war.
 * **Motivation**
 * Nasser felt that pan-Arabism was the answer to bringing about significant change in Egypt. He was incredibly motivated to remove British influence from Egypt, and to also challenge the Israel’s boundaries and military threats.


 * IV. Comparison**
 * **Physical characteristics**
 * While Mao was the somewhat homely leader of China, Nasser definitely portrayed the more masculine, confident leader of a single-party state that is described in our reading.
 * **Intelligence**
 * Both were incredibly intelligent and systematic about their plans to achieve advancements and reforms within their respective countries. Both were educated beyond simple primary school, and as a result were able to develop connections and ideas to enhance the power of their regime.
 * **Personal skills and qualities**
 * Nasser had a much more engaging personality than Mao did; however, both utilized their individual skills to develop a cult of personality around themselves. Nasser was very charismatic, while Mao was somewhat more subdued and very controlled.
 * **Ability to recruit**
 * Both were able to retain followers after their initial leadership successes, whether it be with a protest or with a military mission. Both were able to maintain followers by proclaiming the greatness of their country and the possibility of enhanced national success in the future.
 * **Personal history**
 * Both were from peasant families (not dirt poor, but not exactly overly-wealthy either), and both utilized this during their tenure to secure followers and to inspire change.
 * Both had experience in the military; while Nasser was clearly more experienced and in actual military strategy and leadership, both Nasser and Mao utilized their involvement in protecting the livelihood of their country to gain followers.
 * **Motivation**
 * Both were incredibly motivated and dedicated to their causes. Both were willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goals, even if that meant alienating former allies in the process.

"Mao Zedong." //Cold War Reference Library//. Ed. Sharon M. Hanes, Richard C. Hanes, and Lawrence W. Baker. Vol. 4. Detroit: U*X*L, 2004. 312-320. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 27 Apr. 2010.

"Gamal Abdel Nasser." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. 2nd ed. Vol. 11. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 317-318. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 27 Apr. 2010.