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Popular Leader

Identify a popular leader (past or present). Select one of the theories of leadership presented in Chapter 12 and demonstrate how this theory explains why this individual is/was an effective leader.

A popular leader: George W. Bush? Attaching a leadership theory to this individual is like trying to pin-the-tail on a Great White Shark! Unfortunately, I have no choice other than the Charismatic Leadership Theory for this individual's "success" or "effectiveness". For better or for worse, Mr. Bush was able to develop followers that were "inspired" to identify with him and to be devoted to him. Mr. Bush was able to be most "effective" in situations where goals were unclear and environmental conditions were uncertain and unstable, presumably because charismatic leaders are able to provide some vision of where the group should be headed. There is no correlation between charisma and intellect mentioned in any resource material that I was able to find.  

a) There has been a long history of research on and theorizing about leadership. Leadership theories tend to build on one another, with later theories using components of earlier models and expanding on or using them in new ways.
b) Universalist theories, behavioral theories, contingency theories, additional theories. 
c) The history begins with the universalist theories, which were attempts to uncover the universal characteristics of effective leaders. One of these theories: the Great Man/Woman Theory was merely speculative and gave rise to a more intense scientific approach to the matter. As a result of the failure of universalist theories to isolate the characteristics of effective leaders, the next level of theories, behavioral theories, focus more on the human behaviors specific to effective leaders. Variables related to the type of tasks or work group characteristics led to alternative or contingency theories to be formulated. Contingency theories take into account the interaction between leader...