The Consequences of Leadership

[rexbo 104]

The Consequences of Leadership

I think a Kerry Presidency would fall under the same level of impotence as Clinton's did...

Bill Clinton's observation that he would have been a great president if only something important had happened on his watch is an amazing confession of impotence. One cannot imagine presidents such as Ronald Reagan or Theodore Roosevelt bemoaning that history had not handed them prestige on a platter. Great men do not wait to respond to important events, they make them happen. They are not the servants of history but its drivers. They are not cowed by the unknown, they are grounded in certainties — their faith, their fitness, and their commitment to the American ideal. This is the essential quality of leadership. A leader defines objectives, assesses capabilities, weighs risks, and acts. Many of those who fail tests of leadership stall on the third step, endlessly debating, studying, considering, pondering, trying vainly to know the unknown in advance, until the moment passes and the opportunity is lost. Competent leaders accept the fact that not everything can be known, and move forward. To say that we cannot go to war because we do not know for certain what will happen is not an argument — it is at best an excuse.