Principles of Leadership in American Military History Essay -- essays

What is the description of a leader? Honor, respect, dignity, self-confidence, kindness, etc.? Moreover, what is the portrait of a leader? Is it the man who is able to stand in front of a crowd of thousands? Or the man who sits in his office, addressing the public through a TV screen? Is it the man who struggles for the rights he was born with, that people refuse to hand to him? Or is it the man who goes to jail after fighting for liberty and justice? These are all fine examples of leaders. It does not matter what their claim is. They all eventually die with honor, gain respect, and had the self-confidence to go public and go the extremes in order to obtain righteousness. There is nothing wrong with a leader failing, but future leaders should learn to not repeat the past, for better and for worst. There are â€Å"crossroads of our history† that are very similar to the recent news we are presented with, which defies not making the past’s mistakes. Whether they succeed fail, or fall back into the same hole the past has fallen into, these men display different qualities of a leader, positive or negatively. Both Patrick Henry and Barack Obama gave powerful speeches and shined a new light among many in their crowds with one major leadership skill: unity. In his speech at the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry’s most persuasive qualities lay in his rhetorical questions. Beginning with â€Å"They tell us, sir, that we are weak—unable to cope with so formidable an adversary,† Henry jumps straight into his repetition of questions, hitting his audience with his words so continuously, they seem ultimately unanswerable. Following when the country will be stronger, he asks â€Å"Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall b... ... minds, our opinions, our words, our strength and our will belong to the individual, and that is the most powerful weapon. There is no sign of an end to war, only the destruction of humanity. The timeline of history is repeating. Is our government looking at the errors of the past? Comparing our current crisis to Kennedy’s situation, is today’s enemy willing to compromise? Understandably, the precautions we have taken and the steps put forth these passed few years is due to the unpredictable behavior of our adversary. Perhaps we have really fallen into the same hole as our ancestors many years before, and our options really are limited and aiming in the same eventual fate. Maybe soon, every American, and others across the globe, will hold the same belief President Bush claims to own when he once said, â€Å"Out of this long political darkness, a brighter day will come.†