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ON HISTORY AND LEADERSHIP |
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by
Doug Ward |
NOVEMBER 2009-In my undergraduate American history class, I was
required to write a book report on some book related to the history of the
United States since the Civil War. It was early 1978, and the future
administration of the Panama Canal was a much-debated subject at the time. A
book about the construction of the canal had recently been published: David
McCullough's The Path between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal,
1870-1914 (Simon and Schuster, 1977). I had heard good things about this
book, so it seemed to be an obvious choice for the assignment.
The
book lived up to my expectations. McCullough's account of the quest to build
the canal and the accompanying battle against yellow fever was carefully
researched and totally absorbing.
Working with such a fine book, it was not hard to earn an A on my
report.
David
McCullough has been earning top marks for his books throughout his writing
career. Later in 1978, The Path between the Seas won a National
Book Award. His next book, a
biography of
the young Theodore Roosevelt
called Mornings on Horseback, won a
second one. Over the years since,
his major biographies of Presidents Harry Truman and John Adams have been
awarded Pulitzer Prizes. Today he
is one of America's most beloved historians.
On
November 9, 2009, McCullough visited Miami University and gave a lecture
entitled "Leadership and the History You Don't Know." Anticipating
that his remarks would be worthwhile, I made a point of attending.
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Lessons
of History |
In a voice familiar to anyone who has watched the documentaries of
Ken Burns or the television series The American Experience, McCullough
addressed a large audience at Millett Hall, the university basketball arena. He
began his lecture by explaining that his task as a historian is to take a
sequence of events and find out the story behind them. In searching for that
story, he said, he tries to learn as much as he can about the characters, to
discover who they really are.
McCullough
admitted that when he begins a book project, he doesn't know what the main
message of the book will be. The theme emerges as his research progresses. For
example, with his first book, The Johnstown Flood, the theme turned out
to be that people in positions of responsibility do not always behave
responsibly. We assume that those in charge know what they are doing, but that
is not always the case.
He
stated that there are "manifold lessons of history," and he
highlighted several during the course of his lecture. One such lesson is the
fact that there is no such thing as a "self-made man." We have all
been shaped by a number of influences, including parents, teachers, friends,
rivals, writers and literature. To a great extent, he said, we are what we
read.
McCullough
added that "leaders are readers" who often draw strength from what
they read. Abraham Lincoln, he said, was deeply influenced by his favorite
poem, Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." Theodore
Roosevelt was moved by the poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson.
A
second lesson of history listed by McCullough is that "there is no simpler
time." Today we cope with accelerating technological advances unknown to
past generations. Our ancestors, on the other hand, faced their own
challenges-for instance, epidemics of diseases like smallpox and cholera.
McCullough mentioned one example from his current project, a book about
Americans in Paris: In 1832, a cholera epidemic killed eighteen thousand in
Paris.
Infant
mortality was another challenge. It used to be typical for families to lose one
or more children in infancy. But the fact that the death of infants was
commonplace did not make the loss of a baby an easy thing to handle. This was a
tremendous emotional burden for previous generations.
A
third lesson of history, McCullough noted, is that there is no such thing as
the "foreseeable future." We view history with the benefit of
hindsight, but our ancestors lived in an uncertain present, just as we do. We
should keep this in mind when we consider their actions.
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The
Founders and History |
Although we cannot foresee the future, McCullough said, we are free
to travel to the past, which is available to all of us. He observed that it is
in our nature to be curious about days gone by. The study of history is part of
the enjoyment of living, like the appreciation of great art and music.
To
illustrate the benefits of learning about history, he pointed to America's
Founding Fathers. In the 1770s there were only about 2.5 million people in the
American colonies, including half a million slaves. But that remarkable
generation possessed great genius and leadership ability. McCullough emphasized
that the Founders were readers of history. They were guided by the classics,
reading ancient Greek and Roman history either in the original languages or in
translation. They also read the works of Samuel Johnson, Daniel Defoe,
Alexander Pope, William Shakespeare, and Miguel Cervantes.
In
researching the lives of American leaders, McCullough has made a point of
reading what they read.1 He related
that one very popular quotation among the Founders, cited by John Adams and
others, is a line from Pope's Essay on Man: "Act well your part:
there all the honour lies." The Founders, he
said, were quite conscious that they were actors on the stage of history. They
knew they would be judged by history, and they were very concerned about how
they would measure up.
In
the estimation of McCullough and many others, George Washington was the
greatest of the Founders. McCullough described one episode that illustrated
Washington's leadership skill and sense of history. On December 31, 1776, the
beleaguered soldiers of the Continental Army had finished their term of
enlistment and were free to go home. At that point, they had every reason to
leave. Their uniforms were inadequate, and they had not been paid. When
Washington urged them to stay, offering ten dollars to each man who would sign
up for six more months, no one stepped forward to accept the offer. Washington,
however, did not give up. Perhaps inspired by a famous scene from Shakespeare's
Henry V-Henry's impassioned speech before the Battle of Agincourt-the American
commander told his men that this was their greatest opportunity to be remembered
by future generations. Moved by Washington's words, the Continental Army agreed
to stay for one more month.
McCullough
believes that John Adams is the "most underrated" of the Founding
Fathers. He mentioned one example that testifies to Adams's strength of
character. On January 20, 1801, Adams was at the end of his term of office as
President. He had lost in the election of 1800, and he had also recently lost a
son. It was one of the low points of his life. But when a fire erupted in the
building that housed the Treasury Department, he joined the bucket brigade that
assembled to put out the fire. Adams was a good neighbor, a good citizen who
wanted to set an example for others.
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More
Lessons |
Another lesson of history, McCullough noted, is that appearances
can often be important. George Washington, who believed that a leader should
look like a leader, brought his tailor with him when he took command of the
Continental Army.
On
the other hand, appearances are not always so important. Abraham Lincoln,
believed by many to be our greatest President of all, did not look impressive,
but it didn't matter in his case. His humility and depth of soul and his
capacity to move people with language were exactly the qualities needed at a
critical time.
McCullough
asserted that all the great U.S. Presidents, not just the Founders, have been
keen students of history. In this regard Presidents with Ivy League
backgrounds, like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, readily come to mind.
McCullough also singled out Harry S. Truman, who, though not college educated,
never stopped reading. McCullough observed that Truman was someone who knew who
he was, a well-grounded individual of strong character.
In
reference to the hard economic times of 2009, McCullough stated that he is a
long-range optimist. He said that we are problem solvers and generally emerge
from hard times stronger for having endured them.
McCullough
observed that great things can come out of bad times, and from surprising
sources. As an example he mentioned the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge,
the subject of his book The Great Bridge. The bridge, he said, arose out
of a rotten era of corruption in New York City, but it was a great achievement
of engineering and a symbol of affirmation.
Hammering
home his message, he urged his audience to learn as much as possible about
history. History, he said, gives us strength and is a great antidote to the
"hubris of the present." He predicted that when we read accounts of
previous generations, we will be amazed at what they accomplished.
1McCullough
explained that in letters from two hundred years ago, there are no quotation marks.
As a result, it can be easy to mistake a literary allusion in a letter for the
writer's own thought if one is not familiar with the literature of the writer's
time.
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