Wellington once said Napoleon’s hat alone was equal to 50,000 men..He was talking about the power of the French leader to inspire his battle-hardened troops in the field. Nothing that could be under-estimated. The French could fight..Which brings us to the question: What is a leader in this day and age?.Truth be told, there are no more Abraham Lincolns. None that I can see.. Lincoln MemorialThe Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Wherever you view it from, the eyes seem to be looking directly at you. .No Franklin Delano Roosevelts either. No more Winston Churchills. No more Dwight Eisenhowers. No more John F. Kennedys or Nelson Mandelas. Not a chance of a Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great either..Alexander was reportedly an intelligent and precocious child. He charmed foreign ambassadors and won a bet with his father he could ride an unruly stallion. He was only ten at the time and won the horse, which he named Bucephalus. The horse became his trusted companion and warhorse..It also impressed me greatly, that Lincoln penned the Gettysburg address on his own..As the legend goes, he wrote it on the train on the way there and his only editor was his valet, William Henry Johnson, who gave it a once over..But the experts, eager to spoil the myth and the fun, say no way. He wrote it at the White House. The writing is clear, normal and steady, a train ride in those days would have been bumpy..Whatever. He wrote it. He didn’t have a Ted Sorensen to write amazing speeches for him as JFK did..As well as one of his closest advisers, President Kennedy once called Sorensen his "intellectual blood bank." No wonder Nixon tried to hire him after Jack’s untimely death. (And failed.).The Gettysburg address, meanwhile, is probably the greatest speech ever written — I admire it greatly and am prone to revisiting it..The length and breadth of it is truly amazing.. John F. KennedyPresident John F. Kennedy. .Only 272 words and 10 sentences..Lincoln's address lasted somewhat more than a minute and although it was not a poem, he used poetic devices to increase the power of his words..And every single sentence burns a hole into your very soul..Google it. It’s brilliant..That is over-the-top leadership, my friends..Social rights activist Martin Luther King once said, "No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.".King was not a dreamer, he was a visionary. They don’t come around very often..Along those same lines, JFK had a clever demeanor, when it came time to dealing with crises … something his administration had to deal with often..Among his favourite quotations, which he attributed to Dante, was that, “The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.”.Quick on his feet, he boldly stood his ground, even in the face of intimidating characters such as US Air Force Commander Curtis LeMay..LeMay — the man who directed the incendiary bombing on Tokyo during the Second World War that likely killed more than 100,000 people in a single night..A million people were left homeless..During the Cuban Crisis in October of 1962, LeMay openly mocked Kennedy, telling him that pursuing a diplomatic option rather than a direct strike on the communist island would paint the US as weak..“I think that a blockade and political talk would be considered by a lot of our friends and neutrals as being a pretty weak response to this. And I’m sure a lot of our own citizens would feel that way, too. In other words, you’re in a pretty bad fix at the present time,” LeMay said..Kennedy responded: “What did you say?”.In the secret White House tape, LeMay reiterated to Kennedy, “you’re in a pretty bad fix.”.Setting him up for a dressing down, the president responded, “You’re in there with me.”.Great leaders also show compassion..It is said that JFK noticed a child in a wheelchair on the White House grounds. The child of a visitor..Kennedy grabbed his US Navy cap from the famed PT 109, which he commanded in the South Pacific..Kennedy went out to the child, chatted with him. Smiling that big JFK smile, he put his PT-109 cap on the boy’s head..According to Two Days In June author, Andrew Cohen, Marine guard, dressed immaculately and holding a rife, on guard at the scene, is said to have wept at the sight … standing silently, as the tears fell down on his bright blue uniform and white gloves..On December 11, 1917, General Edmund Allenby, commander of the British “Egyptian Expeditionary Force,” entered Jerusalem, two days after the Turkish forces occupying the city raised the white flag before Allied forces..Understanding the symbolic sensitivity of Jerusalem to both its residents and religious adherents the world over, Allenby, who was later described by T.E. Lawrence as “morally so great that the comprehension of our littleness came slow to him,” elected to make his entrance through Jaffa Gate on foot..A pronounced gesture that made history..They don’t make men like that anymore, folks..It is not common knowledge, but Churchill would be awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for “his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.”.He is the only British Prime Minister to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature since its inception in 1901. One of my all-time favourite stories, involving the great man, took place in a bathroom of the House of Parliament. While at the urinal, a political rival walked in. Churchill turned himself slightly so the man could only see his back.. ChurchillChurchill .The man then asked Churchill if he was feeling antisocial. Churchill replied, saying, “Every time you see something big you want to nationalize it.”.There was also one epic bit, which involved banter between Churchill and the US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles..The two men got on and liked teasing each other. Dulles tapped Churchill’s big belly and said “what are you going to call it when it’s born?”.Without a pause, Churchill replied “If it’s a boy, I shall call him George after our late King. If it’s a girl, I shall name her Elizabeth after our new Queen. If however, it is as I suspect merely wind and hot air, I shall name it John Foster Dulles.”.Great men, in great times. Men who could think and act, on their feet. Men of action and courage..To this day, Robert F. Kennedy remains a leadership role model for youth … something that is largely lacking today in Canada and the US..Our mop-topped moron in the PMO doesn’t cut it..In times of moral ambiguity, deep division, hatred between East and West, we need leaders who can bring us together and offer guidance, correction and hope..What RFK did on the night that Rev. King was murdered, just two short months before his own assassination, was offer hope..By chance, my brother Jim was there. He was a volunteer, campaigning for Bobby during the Indiana primary in 1968..RFK did what leaders do, offering empathy. Reminding people, especially African Americans angered by King’s murder his own brother was also murdered, but this did not cause him to hate..His four-minute speech he said, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.”.It is an absolute shame that instead of great leaders, we have fools at the helm..Fools on top of fools..Overspending, mindless fools. How did it ever get this bad?.Liberal goofballs in Ottawa, trying to take control of our resources, our projects, our economy, our internet and our very minds..Demonizing us, separating us..Dragging us all into the gutter, leaving our nation’s potential in ruins. A leadership divide as big and empty as the mighty Grand Canyon..Should he win, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has big challenges ahead. The demand for leadership, viable and effective leadership, is very great in Canada. I would even submit, he must bring us back from the brink..We can only hope Quebec and Ontario will see the light and boot this Jack in Office. .To quote President Harry Truman: "In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better."
