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The Daily Signal
4 Examples of
Extraordinary Presidential Leadership
John Venable
February 15, 2016
There’s no better way of celebrating our presidents around Presidents
Day than by remembering a few of their extraordinary acts of courage.
Here are four examples highlighting when past presidents have displayed
clear leadership:
George Washington. When King George III asked what General Washington
would do after he led the Colonial Army to victory, the target of his
conversation answered, “They say he will return to his farm.”
“If he does that,” King George said, “he will be the greatest man in
the world.” And still, he gave up command. There was no template for
the role of president when Washington was elected to office. He could
have considered himself a clerk to carry out congressional legislation,
acted as a pollster of sorts that followed the whims of the states—or
even a king.
His tenure as president can certainly be judged in the way he restored
our financial footing, or how he led our nation through the pains of
growth. But the real measure of his character is found in the way he
fulfilled King George III’s words, by voluntarily stepping down not
just from command of the Colonial Army, but from what would become the
most powerful office in the world.
Washington set the precedent for those who followed in many ways, and
perhaps the biggest way he did this was in his willingness to go
against convention and cede power after just two terms.
Abraham Lincoln. President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
was attacked from all sides. National papers decried it as “a monstrous
usurpation, a criminal wrong, and an act of national suicide.”
Desertions by disgusted Union soldiers climbed into the thousands, and
a New York Herald correspondent wrote, “The army is dissatisfied and
the air is thick with revolution[.]”
Riots broke out in New York City, the largest of their kind to that
moment in American history. Seeing no slaves freed, even abolitionists
were soured by the proclamation’s impotence. Lincoln was isolated and
alone, and yet he considered, and our nation remembers, the
Emancipation Proclamation as his greatest act as president. He didn’t
just put his comfort and reputation at risk; he would ultimately
sacrifice his life in his move to better our nation.
Harry S. Truman. Following North Korea’s invasion of the South in 1950,
General Douglas MacArthur was placed in command of the force to retake
the peninsula. He was already an American icon, and as his forces drove
the North Koreans back toward the Chinese border, his legend grew.
The Allies’ advance drew China into the conflict, and as President
Harry Truman became increasingly worried about the war’s escalation, he
denied MacArthur’s requests to expand his campaign into China. Adamant
in his stance, MacArthur took his argument directly to Congress and
aired his views openly to the press.
Even in the face of MacArthur’s success and universal popularity,
Truman relieved him of his command in April of 1951. Truman’s actions
kept the conflict from expanding, reaffirmed his control over the
military, and reinforced the strength of the commander in chief for
following presidents.
Ronald Reagan. On Aug. 3, 1981, more than 13,000 air traffic
controllers went on strike throughout the U.S. The strike came at the
peak of summer travel, forcing some 7,000 flight cancelations of across
the country.
President Ronald Reagan declared the strike illegal and threatened to
fire controllers who didn’t return to work within 48 hours. Dismissing
the controllers would inevitably impede air travel, and Reagan’s
closest advisers worried that a major air disaster might result if the
president held his red line. Two days later, he fired 11,000 striking
air traffic controllers.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s contingency plan restored airline
operations, but it would be many months before air travel returned to
pre-strike levels. As unpopular a measure as it was, by going against
the advice of his staff and conventional wisdom, Reagan reaffirmed his
intent to enforce the law and strengthened America’s hand in everything
from public discourse to our dealings with the Soviet Union.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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