Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Reading up on the Cold War this weekend, I found myself noting a couple of remarks that President Dwight Eisenhower made in 1954. In both instances, Ike was making the same point: the United States couldn't win the Cold War simply by throwing its weight around. Foreign policy may have been what was on Ike's mind, but what he was really talking about was leadership.
“A platoon leader," Ike argued during a news conference,
doesn’t get his platoon to go that way by getting up and saying, ‘I am smarter, I am bigger, I am stronger, I am the leader.’ He gets men to go with him because they want to do it for him, because they believe in him.
"This business of saying we are out in front," Ike remarked during a conversation with a friend later in 1954,
we know all the answers, you boys come along . . . they are just not going to do it, that I can tell you just from the knowledge of people I have.
The GOP candidates, but especially, I believe, Mitt Romney, would do well to take note.
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Dec '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
So executive experience and leadership are not synonymous? Who knew?
Apr '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Amen! Preach it brother Robinson.
You don't get people to follow by explaing why you are a good leader. You convince people to follow and that shows that you are a good leader. It is what makes Obama a crappy leader and what could make Mitt a crappy one too.
The final mark of a good leader is not just getting people to follow but leading them to success.
Jan '12
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
I remember Ike fondly; he was commander-in-chief when I was a kid. It was a time when a president acted more like an uncle than a father.
Feb '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
I bet someone could use a photo of gollum to great effect here.
Aug '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
That is a fabulous analogy. Rest assured, I will steal it in future conversations.
Aug '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Elrond, maybe...
Dec '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
The central premise of Mitt Romney's campaign is flawed.
For three years, we've been hearing that Barack Obama doesn't understand how to create jobs because he's never had a real job. And we've heard over and over that no one in his cabinet has any business experience.
Ergo, thought Mitt, the key to beating Obama was to tout his own business experience.
But the truth is that Barack Obama and his minions aren't failures because they lack business experience. They're failures because they do not understand American exceptionalism, sound economic principles and the proper restraints upon government.
And when you examine Mitt, it's clear that he lacks understanding of those things, too.
May '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Is there any possibility of reanimating Ike and have him run for president. I like Ike. The courage it took to visit para-troopers knowing full well a large percentage wouldn't survive and interacting with them as men and not as a superior shows how a leader should act. Good leaders show appreciation for those who make huge (in this case the ultimate) sacrifices for them.
Jun '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Back to Ike's advice. Dick Winters in Band of Brothers exemplified that kind of leadership.
Nov '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Great points, Peter. It brings to mind how off-putting I usually find it when a candidate starts going on about how they'll bring leadership to the office.
Leadership is sorta like being cool, or being manly.
If you claim to be cool, it's virtual proof you're a nerd.
If you try too hard to be manly (e.g., John Kerry), it isn't very manly.
If you make a big show of being a leader, chances are, you aren't.
Dec '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
A leader who pushes and hectors will get nothing more from his people than the minimum compliance necessary to avoid disciplinary action.
A leader who appeals to the inherent motivation of his people can, if skillful, lead them to achievements greater than they knew were possible.
Ike knew this; it's why American troops accomplished the impossible on D Day.
Jan '12
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Misthiocracy
That is a fabulous analogy. Rest assured, I will steal it in future conversations. · 36 minutes ago
Be my guest.
Dec '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
tabula rasa
Back to Ike's advice. Dick Winters in Band of Brothers exemplified that kind of leadership.
With all due respect to Ike and Dick Winters, the greatest exemplar of inspirational leadership was King Leonidas, at Thermopylae.
Apr '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Washington is a far better example than Leonidas. By virtue of his character and leadership we have the nation we enjoy.
Sep '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Right now its President Platitude versus the winner of President PowerPoint and President Porcupine. Put my money on the prickly guy.
Dec '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Washington is a far better example than Leonidas. By virtue of his character and leadership we have the nation we enjoy.
Oh, I revere George Washington. But without Leonidas, the Western civilization upon which America was founded would have been strangled in its cradle.
Apr '11
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
You do realize that this quote is part of Eisenhower's critique of America's tendency to become overbearing toward other countries. He's telling people that they can't impose American values on other people and expect any kind of good outcome. (Yeah, I know Paul Rahe will be complaining that Eisenhower "blames America". Whatever.)
I know you're using the quote in another context, but it's easy to mistake your blog post as urging Ron Paul's foreign policy views on Romney. I find this both surprising and amusing.
Edited on January 23, 2012 at 9:03pmJun '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Nobody's Perfect: Washington is a far better example than Leonidas. By virtue of his character and leadership we have the nation we enjoy.
Oh, I revere George Washington. But without Leonidas, the Western civilization upon which America was founded would have been strangled in its cradle. · 5 minutes ago
We're talking two kinds of leaders. Ike, Washington and Leonidas led armies ((in the latter two cases, much smaller than we're used to today); Dick Winters was a company commander.
You need good people at both levels. Winters, I believe, demonstrates that no matter how good the generals are, it is essential to have competent and inspiring leadership at the company level: the place where the leaders are on the front lines with their men.
Update: On reflection, maybe Leonidas at Thermopylae was like a company commander. But I think my point still holds.
Edited on January 23, 2012 at 9:14pmRe: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
Jeff Younger: You do realize that this quote is part of Eisenhower's critique of America's tendency to become overbearing toward other countries. He's telling people that they can't impose American values on other people and expect any kind of good outcome. (Yeah, I know Paul Rahe will be complaining that Eisenhower "blames America". Whatever.) · 52 minutes ago
Edited 50 minutes ago
And where, pray tell, have I argued that we should "impose American values on other people and expect any kind of good outcome?" The difference between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ron Paul is that Eisenhower recognized that this country needs a forward defense. Ike was not an isolationist. He favored the prudent use of force in defending American interests abroad, and he knew that there are occasions in which we need to reconfigure the politics of other countries in our interest. I trust that you have heard of Japan and Germany.
Oct '10
Re: Dwight Eisenhower's Advice To Mitt Romney
I'm reminded of the film, When We Were Soldiers, and the contrast between the two platoon leaders who represented polar opposites of leadership strategy. There was the one who went for the glory and the other who wanted to get all his guys through alive.