What is a leader? A leader is someone who inspires, whose actions say more than their words. It’s a man or woman who can can move you to action. A leader is someone who does not take the credit for the tough decisions. but takes the blame when something goes wrong.
The United States has had many leaders in its history ranging from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight David Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, to Martin Luther King Jr., to name just a few.
A leader will put the needs of the many over the needs of the few. A leader will have to make unpopular decisions for the good of the nation. A leader will put country over party.
In the 1970s we saw a failure of leadership in Richard M. Nixon. We also saw a leadership decision that likely ended a political career (and cost him a presidential term in his own right) by Gerald R. Ford when he pardoned Nixon. It was an unpopular decision, but, it was the right decision to make at the time.
Many examples of leadership came out of World War II. One of the most famous was during the Battle of the Bulge. Surrounded by German armored forces with limited supplies, light infantry, and no air support, the 101st Airborne Division was holding the critical crossroads in Bastogne, Belgium. Brigadier Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe was presented with terms for surrender by the opposing German army. Gen. McAuliffe’s response?
"December 22, 1944
To the German Commander,
N U T S !
The American Commander"
It was a bit of bravado, but McAuliffe knew that Bastogne had to be held at all costs.
It would have been in his best interests and the best interests of the division to surrender—but it would have given the German offensive a key town and crossroads without a fight. He made the decision to stand and fight, even though it meant that he may have brought about his own doom. The siege of Bastogne was eventually ended with U.S. forces pushing the German army back (Patton claims he “rescued” the 101st Airborne Division, while the 101st respectfully disagrees). That one decision could have changed the course of the war. It was a decision a true leader would make, which was shown by the Christmas letter Gen. McAuliffe sent to the soldiers defending Bastogne:
MERRY CHRISTMAS
HEADQUARTERS 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION
Office of the Division Commander
24 December 1944
What’s Merry about all this, you ask? We’re fighting — it’s cold, we aren’t home. All true but what has the proud Eagle Division accomplished with its worthy comrades the 10th Armored Division, the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion and all the rest? Just this: We have stopped cold everything that has been thrown at us from the North, East, South and West. We have identifications from four German Panzer Divisions, two German Infantry Divisions and one German Parachute Division. These units, spearheading the last desperate German lunge, were headed straight west for key points when the Eagle Division was hurriedly ordered to stem the advance. How effectively this was done will be written in history; not alone in our Division’s glorious history but in World history. The Germans actually did surround us, their radios blared our doom. Their Commander demanded our surrender in the following imprudent arrogance:
December 22nd 1944
“To the U. S. A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.
The fortune of war is changing. This time the U. S. A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Ourthe near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompres-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.
There is only one possibility to save the encircled U. S. A. Troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.
If this proposal should be rejected the German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U. S. A. Troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hour’s term.
All the serious civilian losses caused by this Artillery fire would not correspond with the well known American humanity.
The German Commander”
The German Commander received the following reply:
22 December 1944
“To the German Commander:
N U T S !
The American Commander”
Allied Troops are counterattacking in force. We continue to hold Bastogne. By holding Bastogne we assure the success of the Allied Armies. We know that our Division Commander, General Taylor, will say: “Well Done!”
We are giving our country and our loved ones at home a worthy Christmas present and being privileged to take part in this gallant feat of arms are truly making for ourselves a Merry Christmas.
/s/ A. C. McAULIFFE
/t/ McAULIFFE
Commanding.
Leadership can also be demonstrated by actions instead of words. Dr. Martin Luther King was not just a great orator. He did not sit idly by and let others do the work on the ground. He marched, he protested, he was jailed, and he did what he asked his followers to do. He led by example. A true leader is willing to sacrifice what his or her followers will sacrifice. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” in answer to local clergy calling his present activities "unwise and untimely," Dr. King responded with this:
I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.
He saw injustice, stood up to it, and was jailed for it. That is leadership.
Leaders have a bit of bravado, and some swagger to them. But they all will make the same sacrifices they ask others to make. Donald Trump’s son Eric was interviewed on Fox News this week. Here’s what he said when asked about his father’s opponents:
“I’ve never seen hatred like this,” Eric Trump said. “I mean, to me, they’re not even people.”
This is the son of the president of the United States of America stating that anyone who opposes his father is not a person. That is not a leader. A leader will listen to those who oppose him or her. A leader, especially the president of the United States, is president to all Americans, not just those who blindly follow him.
Donald Trump and his sycophants are full of bluster. Bluster does not equal leadership. Dropping out of the Paris climate agreement while saying the terms were not favorable to the United States, when even North Korea signed the agreement, is not leadership. Saying that our allies, like Germany, are “very, very bad” is not not leadership, and certainly does not “Make America Great Again."
Scapegoating the media for his own mistakes is not leadership.
Attacking the mayor of London and taking hiw words out of context? That is not leadership.
Donald Trump is not a leader, and he never will be. His ego is too easily bruised, and he cannot lead by example because he has led a life that 99.9 percent of Americans could not even imagine living. Tax cuts will not help grow the middle class. Getting out of the Paris Climate agreement will not help grow the middle class. Taking health care away from millions of Americans will not help one single American—unless you are rich and get a tax cut out of it.
Donald Trump is nothing more than a self-promoter, a carnival barker. Everything he does is to puff up his ego and enrich himself. The 30 percent or so of die-hard supporters will eat up his act. No matter what he says or does, they will fall for it. They have confused bluster and bravado for leadership.
If Trump were to work on the carnival midway, he would be running a crooked shooting game, one where the barrels are bent ever so slightly. He would separate people from their money, occasionally giving out a prize to make himself look honest. But in the end it would be all about him and how much money he made. Not how much he cheated people out of, not that he may have ruined someone’s life. Just about how much money he made, and getting people to listen to him brag about it.