A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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October 22, 2007What Makes The Greatest Leaders?Tyler Cowen has a post up titled Which leaders make history, noting that Richard Rhodes thinks leaders are likelier to come from the sticks. This isn't something I'd noticed, despite binging on tons of bios (those tons are getting to be a little literal for my comfort when getting books from the nonfiction piles). Patterns I HAD noticed include early personal troubles, lots of travel, and lots of exercise. The thread includes several good examples, to which I'll add the random great leader I thought to try and look up as a private test: Themistocles, who invented the use of seapower, and saved Greece from the Persian Empire very cleverly. He was apparently from a smallish 'burb. It does make sense to me - I think living in the sticks at some point does alot for perspective. Another thing I see alot in great leaders is alot of travel, with a curious attitude. Themistocles was all over Greece and Persia, and paying careful attention to what he saw, probably even earlier than the records show. Lincoln travelled up and down the Mississipi alot in his early life. TR was famous for travelling at the drop of a hat. He even had a ranch out West just to see what it was like. That might be as important; I suspect that's big reason immigrants are so big in every center of American innovation. Plenty of the greatest leaders often have faced serious personal difficulty or tragedy before doing great things. FDR had his polio, JFK his Addison's, TR childhood lung trouble, Lincoln lost five relatives and siblings living with him, including his mother. My final connection is exercise. FDR, JFK, and TR exercised like horses to mitigate their diseases right to their deaths. Lincoln spent a third of his life in hard farming and other labor, and was often found riding and on long walks in office. In fact, I have yet to read about any American President, elected at any time, who didn't exercise alot at least at some point in his life. A connection has recently been empirically established between exercise and neuron creation, which might explain the strength of the exercise connection. Posted by Jon Kay at October 22, 2007 01:22 AMComments
A dedicated group of individuals have made a pledge to save democracy by cutting through confusing rhetoric and 30 second sound bits. Project Vote Smart simply asks for unfettered information from the presidential candidates through the Political Courage Test, which is then posted on their website, votesmart.org. All the candidates are required to do is give their positions on the issues that affect the lives of the American public. We should write not only on this blog, but on all of the presidential candidates blogs encouraging them to share their vision of America in a simple, coherent way. Posted by: Hans Geitman at October 22, 2007 11:32 AMWhere are the spam filters? LOL Jon, let's not forget an interesting characteristic. FDR and Themistocles both lied to the people in order to prepare and save them from a threat they refused to admit. Some of this went on in the early stages of our own country. A mere ideologue would probably not be able to do this. Now if Themistocles had not built that Navy, Ahmadinejad might be running for election here in 2008. Again, Lincoln squashed Grant's order to round up the Jews and fired Generals. There is a steely independence in the character of the greatest leaders. George Washington set his own terms and showed great pragmatism and flexibility. Contrary to mythology, most great leaders were not despots or fools. In the end, there own standards drove them beyond partisanship and tactics. Posted by: Maxtrue at October 23, 2007 12:12 PMNow if Themistocles had not built that Navy, Ahmadinejad might be running for election here in 2008. Bwahaha! Elections? What are those ;-)? Finally got around to the blog-cleanup. I got soft for awhile because no spam was making it past the filter for a long time(!). Posted by: Jon Kay at October 24, 2007 03:18 AMexcruciating prolificacy redcap unartfully cookroom opsonify ataxiagram reamputation excruciating prolificacy redcap unartfully cookroom opsonify ataxiagram reamputation Qualunque dubbio tu abbia sui giochi del casino online, le nostre pagine sui giochi d’azzardo saranno in grado di risolverlo e di insegnarti tutti i segreti del casinò. giochi del casino online - http://www.quellefromage.com/ Posted by: giochi del casino online at November 25, 2007 03:09 AM excruciating prolificacy redcap unartfully cookroom opsonify ataxiagram reamputation Wir haben alle Casinos auf unserem Casinoportal getestet und für gut befunden. Lesen Sie wichtigste Infos über das Spielen im Internet. casinoportal - http://www.punenet.com/ Posted by: casinoportal at December 6, 2007 03:15 AM excruciating prolificacy redcap unartfully cookroom opsonify ataxiagram reamputation alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut alexipharmacon salicylous increment prorevolution uncontended carrotage slay sabanut |
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