What great legislators have in common

Each of the great politicians and legislators I've known over the course of my career in Congress was very different. They were masters of the rules, or unassailably knowledgeable about a given issue, or supremely watchable orators. But they also shared key traits that I wish more elected officials possessed.

For starters, the great politicians I've met enjoyed the game, and they worked on the skills needed to play it well. They were good speakers and adroit persuaders, whether on the floor of the Congress or sitting in a supporter's living room with a dozen strangers.

And they could master legislative detail. This may be hard to see from afar, but serious legislating requires mind-numbing work - sitting alertly through hours of expert testimony; digesting the reports of committees and subcommittees; thinking through how even small word changes can affect the course of legislation or the impact of a law; going through the intense editing process known as legislative "markup."

Effective legislators not only don't mind this, they see it as an opportunity to put their imprint on the law. The best of them I've known worked long, almost inhuman hours, and sometimes they made mistakes, but they were never bowled over by them - they believed they were helping to push the country forward, and that was a powerful motivator to stay in the fight.

They also embraced a life in politics because they believed they could make a difference. They had confidence in themselves, their ideas, and their ability to find their way out of tough spots. They were not dismayed by the give and take of politics - if anything, they relished it.

And they could master legislative detail. This may be hard to see from afar, but serious legislating requires mind-numbing work. Effective legislators not only don't mind this, they see it as an opportunity to put their imprint on the law.

Many of the strongest political leaders I met over the years had a passion for leadership. There are 435 members of the House and 100 senators; they're already leaders. So the people who in turn rose to the top of those ranks had something extra: they wanted to be leaders of the leaders.

And not just in Congress. Their attitude toward the presidents they served with was interesting. They had a deep respect for the office of the presidency, but they insisted that the president display equal respect for Congress. They took the idea of a co-equal branch of government seriously. They applied the same sensibility to their colleagues. They were serious about strengthening the institution from the inside. They sought to build its capabilities - for research and analysis, for oversight, and for all the capabilities a branch of government charged with making policy might need.

When he first arrived in what he called the "President's house," John Adams let his wife Abigail know he had arrived. "May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof," he wrote. Forgiving him his assumption about a president's gender, isn't that the hope we all have to possess as citizens? That our political leaders are ever honest and wise? I certainly do.

Former Congressman Lee H. Hamilton is a senior adviser for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government.