Posted on 08/29/2009 5:01:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
When I think of recent effective leaders, two names top the list: Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan. Using their sharp personalities, these guys motivated others to work effectively for a cause, and that is what true leadership is all about.
Faced with a powerful German Wehrmacht that had rolled over Europe, Churchill showed iron resolve while other British leaders broke down. He simply told British subjects that there would be no surrender, that they would fight to the finish. Churchill's crisis leadership defeated the dreaded Nazis as much as anything else.
President Reagan's leadership was of a different sort. He promoted an optimistic pride in America and convinced millions that the USA was a noble nation. It was Reagan's tough resolve, however, that fatally damaged the Soviet Union's evil empire. While Churchill was blunt and blustery, Reagan was charming and smooth. Both men accomplished great things by sheer willpower.
Today, President Barack Obama is in the leadership slot. Relatively young and untested, the president is facing tough situations in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, as well as back home with the economy and health care. So far, Obama's leadership has been shaky. To be fair, he's only been in office eight months, but the polls show that many Americans are rapidly losing confidence in his ability to deal with vexing problems.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami said this: "The Obama devotees were the victims of their own belief in political magic. ... In a newly minted U.S. senator from Illinois, they saw the embodiment of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. . All this hero-worship before Mr. Obama met his first test of leadership."
Now the president has been tested, and it has not gone well. He tried but failed to explain his health care vision, giving his opponents an enormous opportunity to beat him down. Americans respond to clarity. Obamacare is so complicated Moses couldn't explain it.
When I interviewed Obama nearly a year ago, I could not ascertain his leadership potential. The talk was intense, and Obama showed a quick mind. But what about his resolve, his ability to stand firm on principle? It was impossible for me to tell while facing him.
But the Rev. Jeremiah Wright situation gave me pause. A true leader does not compromise on certain things. Wright is an America-hater. He believes the country is a deeply flawed, racist enterprise. Somehow, Obama embraced Wright as a pastor and as a friend. What kind of leadership does that show?
I believe President Obama is a man who is brilliant at accommodation. His gifts lie in mass communication and acceptance of situations that might help him even if those situations are dubious. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as accommodation can lead to great success. But leaders lead based on belief, not accommodation.
It is too early to tell whether Obama is in over his head as the world's most powerful man. But his leadership profile is beginning to sag. We are living in complicated, perilous times, and Americans know it. They want decisive, clear direction from their president.
Right now, it's not there.
Ya know I was thinking....Winston Churchill’s mother was a natural born American… …of course his father was a Brit. and Winny was born in...err....Hawaii...yeah that’s the ticket Hawaii....now that means that the British Bulldog was really and American Pit Bull...and believe you me he would have made a better POTUS than socialist FDR any friggin’ day.
Just saying is all.
I think Bill is missing The Huge Red Flag: Obama never proved to be a leader in any of his former roles. If he didn’t show strong leadership in the Illinois State Senate or as a Junior Senator, why would anyone believe he’d develop leadership skills after January 20, 2009?
Winston held dual US/British citizenship till his 21st birthday, when at the time he had to choose. He chose to be British.
If he’d chosen to keep his US citizenship, he would probably not have been eligible to be president.
I don't know why republican politicians don't continually make this point.
I have a hard time believing that he associated with this people, indeed had several of them as mentors, but under it all was not that kind of person. Apparently he was exposed to many different kinds of people during his life, and he has come away with only those who seem to embody the very things the Founding Fathers did their best to protect us from.
Surely in all these years he's had a chance to befriend a patriot or conservative, but yet everyone of his acquaintances seem to be quite the opposite. Those of a conservative bent who do say nice things about him, John McCain for instance, seem unwilling to say anything bad about anybody so their assessment is hardly telling.
Look at the people he has chosen to surround him on a day to day basis. Glen Beck is doing a great job of showing us the kind of beliefs and goals they have.
It doesn't work to have just a few of the traits of true leadership. You have to have them all or you're not in the game as a leader.
http://www.answers.com/topic/winston-churchill-political-leader-writer
BORing just now more-or-less plagiarized Margaret Thatchers “conviction, not consensus” comment, but couldn’t bring himself to say a word about obamas masters and their collective consensus i.e. tear America down asap.
I blame myself.
Where does it say anything in the article about conviction, not consensus? I have read the editorial over and over and did not find it
Oh okay, thanks for clarifying
aw geez.....try para # 9, in addition to the gist of the entire thing.......O’R remains a blowhard, hoping for another ratings interview
I agree... Bill is always leaning in the direction of “give him some slack”... There’s enough time in this presidency to make the judgment: this guy is anything but a leader. There’s no there there. There are no core beliefs — or at least no core beliefs that will lead to a positive agenda that actually works. The core beliefs are those of a complete statist — and we know from history how that works out (or how it DOESN’T work out).
OK, now add yours.
You left out the punchline from Allegro non Troppo, which hopefully is how the military will respond to him.
Bill O'Reilly writes in paragraph 9
Quote: "I believe President Obama is a man who is brilliant at accommodation. His gifts lie in mass communication and acceptance of situations that might help him even if those situations are dubious. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as accommodation can lead to great success. But leaders lead based on belief, not accommodation."
Now read in Merriam Webster the definition of accommodations
don’t need to....I read the whole damned thing....oreilly is simply oreilly......sorry if you think something of him that I do not and could not. He’s little more than a geraldo who actually studied and practices how to win friends and influence people, LOL
You either stop lying, learn to read, or get help with your Bill O’Reilly derangement syndrome which you seriously need. An Now this is my last post to you. Don’t reply and don’t freep mail me either
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