We have technology today which opens up wonderful opportunities for people such as me who hate to just sit and thumb through the pages of a book which many of you find so much enjoyment in. I always have found great pleasure in seeing thosewhodo enjoy that pastime sitting by a window or out on a porch reading. Me,I just can’t sit still long enough.
I mention this because I do listen to books on tape. When I first started working,my responsibilities would take me throughout the northeastern portion of the country to visit withsalespeopleand dealershipsfromNew Englanddown to the Maryland/Delaware area,including New York and Pennsylvania. I would always take a couple of books on tape with me to break up the boredom of some of the long drives.
I would always listen to a variety of offerings which would range across anumber ofareas of interest. Mysteries, sporting biographies, politics,as well as fiction and non-fiction writers to keep me interested in the variousgenresof subjects. In the last several years I’ve moved back into historical offerings, as my formal education was that of a history teacher.
I recently finished listening to a biography of FDR by Doris Kearns Goodwin,a person I always considereda wonderful writer. Ihavealso just watched a biography regarding FDR on the History Channel,which I foundenlightening.
On one of my famous “road trips” I’ve taken Janet on,we visited FDR’s residence in Warm Springs, Georgia. I found it especiallyilluminatingin regard to the humble setting which surrounded the 32nd President of the United States there in Warm Springs, a placewherehe could find wonderfulreliefin the warm,mineral-richwaters whichhelped to restore his emotional and physical strength, allowing him to return to hisgreat passion in life, politics.
While on a trip on my motorcycle a few years ago,I stayed inLubec, Maine,which is a stone’s through across the water from Campobello Island,another summer retreat for the Roosevelts. Never did get across the FranklinDelanoRoosevelt Bridge tovisit,buthope to in the next couple of summers.
Iam takingthe time to tell you this story because I can’t help but wonder what happened to the America that we seem to have lost. Where are the leadersthatwe have been so fortunate to have hadin the past tostep up when they were most needed?Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln,FDR, Truman, Marshall, Eisenhower, Kennedy, ReaganorBush. Yes, I know you might not agree with all my choices in a perfect world, but these were all men of great character and leadership abilities.
In today’s crazy world character and leadership should count for a great deal, no matter where someone serves in governmentand counts for everything in my opinion, while ultimately holdingthe key to success. It shapes how a person interacts with those around them and it shapes theirdecision-makingprocess.Longtime UCLA men’s Basketball CoachJohn Woodensaid it best when hewas quoted as saying, “Yourcharacter is what you really are, while your reputation is what others think about you.”All too often,we buy into what the veneer coating is on the outside of a person instead of looking deeper into who the people are insideor what they want you to see.
If we are to survive as a nation to be looked up to, so must our leaders bemen and womenof great character who deserve our respectand will always deliver more than what they promise, not promise more than what they can deliver.
Hopefully,we will get to a time when again our leaders will have those following them without makingpromises they can’t deliver on. They must be able to develop trust amongst those they wish to lead, show the trait of stability in how you lead and instill hope in those around you.
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