Calling All Reluctant Warriors (Me Included)

As a history buff I have it on my list of things to do in the coming weeks to watch the Ken Burns American Revolution documentary on PBS, but even before I knew that was coming out, in recent months I’ve been thinking about something related to the American Revolution–the tragedy of good leadership.

I remember reading or seeing someplace in recent years, I think it was David McCullough, who was discussing how every single leader during the American Revolution suffered in one way or another for their efforts on behalf of our nascent nation, and that all of them suffered financially.  

Not a single one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence or framers of the Constitution came out of the Revolutionary War a richer person than they were when it all started.  And many of them suffered personal losses as well, whether it was spouses, or children, or other family members along the way.  

I don’t know what made me think of all that again in recent months, but it’s been on my mind in the form of a question–is all good leadership by its very nature tragic?  Is that the way we can tell our good leaders from our bad leaders?

It’s been said for time immemorial that the best leaders and public servants are the ones who have to be talked into doing it, that the ones who actively seek public office and positions of leadership are usually ill suited for the job.  

As someone who has thought a lot over my lifetime about running for public office and yet has never seriously looked into it, I think a big reason why the best among us are so reluctant to run is precisely because we read about and know about what other past leaders have had to go through, endure, and sacrifice in order to attain those positions of public service and to move society and our government forward–up to and including their lives.

If Lincoln had known he would lose a son and then his own life, would he have still run for President?

If MLK, Malcolm X, RFK, JFK, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Mahatma Gandhi had all known they would be assassinated for their efforts, would they have still fought the fights they did?

If all of the many flawed leaders who had messy personal lives but who’s public service hearts were still in the right place, had known that their families would be torn apart by tawdry scandals, would they still have run for office?  

The optimist in me still chooses to believe that most people in this world are good, honest, hardworking people, but the simple truth is that as a people our confidence that the same can be said for our elected officials is shaken.  

Now more than ever we need good people from all walks of life to heed the call to serve their fellow citizens in elected offices, and yet now more than ever, the very people we need are more afraid and turned off from running than perhaps ever before.  

Who in their right mind would want to run the risk of their family and friends being put under a microscope for possible past indiscretions and mistakes?

Who in their right mind would want to run the risk of some nutjob stalking them or trying to harm or kill them or one of their family members? 

Even without the prospects of death or scandal, a heavy price is paid by those who run for office…from missing kids’ birthday parties and little league games, formative years that won’t come back, personal relationships and finances that suffer while focusing on running and holding office.

I can’t tell you how many biographies I’ve read of giants throughout history who basically had no relationship with their own kids while they were growing up because they were so focused on their jobs and left it all up to their spouses, and as a result either the kids turned out bad or had no or difficult relationships with them as adults. 

And yet it’s been said that wars are not fought solely by childless men. 

We are all, whether we want to admit it or accept it or not, in a war for the very soul of our almost 250 year old nation, and we appear to be losing that war at the moment to the greedy and self-serving.  

I do not pretend to know the final outcome, but I do know it will be decided by those who choose to stand and show up, knowing the potential heavy price they may pay, financially and personally.

And given how shaken our collective view of elected officials is, should flawed people even consider running lest they lower that view any further? 

Can our view of elected officials be lowered more than it already is?  If so, should only “saints” consider running for office?

This Thanksgiving I am particularly grateful for every flawed human being who, despite knowing the risks, enters “the arena” Teddy Roosevelt spoke of, and dares to offer their talents and efforts for a cause greater than themselves, and who in so doing, pays homage and thanks to those from prior generations who have done the same.