Presidential Leadership

I have been listening to the Michael Beschloss (presidential historian) audio book about Presidential Leadership. I was listening today about the very difficult and almost unnavigatable waters FDR had to go through in the 3 to 4 years leading up to the eventual U.S. entrance into WWII.

With Isolationist Republicans in Congress and around the nation hitting him on one side and Democrats like Joe Kennedy, FDR's ambassador to Great Britain prior to our entrance on the other side--Roosevelt really had a difficult time trying to comfort and assure the American people that he was not trying to shove their boys into a war in Europe--while also having the burden to know that our nation HAD to be preparing for that day that would come! Whether it was Lend Lease or back door channels and little deals between himself and Winston Churchill, Roosevelt knew that America would not be able to avoid the war indefinitely.

Year after year in the late 30s and into 1941, all the major polls showed that the people's greatest concern was staying out of the war. Roosevelt could have done what was politically easy by going by the polls. But presidential leadership is not being led by polls--but instead--leading the people regardless of the polls!

Lets have a conversation.