The Post-Journal

The Shoe Is On The Other Foot

                                                                                    Aug 17, 2024

Rolland Kidder

 This is an old saying that my father taught me. I am not sure there is a way to describe what it means, other than it conveys the idea that “things have changed” or “the situation is now reversed.”

However it is used, it seems to describe what has now happened in our national politics. The Republicans, who seemed to be unbeatable in the Presidential race after the disastrous showing of President Biden in the June debate–now seem to be scrambling to regain their traction after Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out of the race.

“The shoe is on the other foot.” Kamala Harris is now the Democratic nominee for President.

This does not mean that she will carry Chautauqua County. Our default politics around here are Republican. However, in “toss-up” areas of the country, she has brought new energy to the race and the Democrats now seem to have a fighting chance.

One change that I have noticed around here is that some Republicans have expressed worry and are now urging Donald Trump to talk about policy–the inference being that he tends to talk more about himself than about the issues facing the country.

My own view is that the election is still Mr. Trump’s to lose. He had a big “head of steam” going into this election, and the electorate is still concerned about inflation and the economy. That, automatically, puts those governing in potential jeopardy at the polls.

Yet, it is not beyond the realm of possibility, that Harris could pull this off and become the first woman ever elected to be President of the United States. That possibility scares the pants off some but is a point of great anticipation and rejoicing for others.

To be honest, I was hoping that Harris would name Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky as her running mate. Yet, her decision to choose Governor Tim Walz still brings geographic and political balance to the ticket. Walz, aside from being a Governor, also has military experience, was a Congressman for 10 years, and coached high school football–all of which may have “tipped the scales” in his favor.

However the election turns out, it was good for the country that Joe Biden decided not to run for re-election. As I wrote in this column after the disastrous debate–because of obvious age-related issues, it was clear that he was no longer able to carry on an effective national campaign for the Presidency. Except for unanimously electing George Washington, we have always had a vigorous and articulated debate between at least two viable contenders for this highest office in our land.

Recently, friends from Germany were visiting, and it was revealing to get their European “take” on our Presidential elections. Germany, like virtually all countries in Europe, has a parliamentary form of government where the Prime Minister becomes leader only after many years of political experience as a legislator. In contrast, our campaigns for the Presidency seem, to them, more a personality contest than a discussion on matters of government.

However you view it, we are now right in the middle of another Presidential election. The people, through our electoral college system, will, in another three months, decide who will lead our nation over the next four years. That has been the American way for over 200 years.

                                                 The Post-Journal

     Remembering The Nixon-Kennedy                         Debate

JUL 6, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER 

One advantage of being old is that you have a long memory. I still remember the first televised Presidential debate in 1960 between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

There were some policy issues debated like the United States’ reaction to Chinese bombardment of two small islands, Quemoy and Matsu, off the coast of China. Should the United States go to war to protect these islands controlled by the Chinese Nationalist Government on Taiwan? There were also exchanges as to the economy and the general direction of the country at that time.

But, what was concluded from that first TV debate had nothing to do with the substance of the debate–it was that John F. Kennedy had more energy in the debate and Vice President Nixon looked tired and haggard. Commentaries afterward did not focus on the issues debated but on how the candidates looked and spoke. The general consensus was that Senator Kennedy had won that debate.

Fast forward to June 27, 2024, and a similar conclusion was rendered. People will not remember the issues that were discussed in the Presidential debate or of how many lies and distortions were voiced. They will remember that Donald Trump was “on top of his game,” was on the attack–and President Biden spoke softly, often mumbling his responses. It was not a good night for Joe Biden.

The independent voter, generally, after the debate, and wishing for a better result, was probably asking: “Why didn’t the Democrats come up with a younger, more energetic candidate?”

The answer to that, of course, is because of the power of the Presidency. It is almost impossible in our political system for a national political party to oppose its incumbent President. We have also seen how the “power of incumbency” is even hard to battle if the candidate is a once-defeated President. Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and a host of other Republicans found it impossible to dislodge Donald Trump.

What now can the Democrats do? Unfortunately, because of the political primary election system, the delegates to the Democratic Convention are locked into supporting the candidate they supported in the primary – Joe Biden. The only way that they could really desert him is if he releases them and allows for an “open convention.”

In short, we are captive of a system in choosing our Presidents which puts us in a political straitjacket. The old days of open conventions where candidates were chosen freely by the delegates is no more. Primary elections have displaced the discretion and candidate selection process of the old convention days.

As of this writing, the Republicans, or at least the MAGA Republicans, are having an early victory lap. It is still a long time until November, but Joe Biden and Donald Trump won’t change much over that time. If the election were held today, Donald Trump would likely be elected the next President of the United States.

The best hope for Democrats is that Joe Biden, for the good of the country and for the sake of his party, leaves the race and allows the Democratic Convention nominate a candidate from a younger generation.

(Rolland Kidder is a former New York state Assemblyman and was a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1980 and 1992.)

 

                                         The Post-Journal

    Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?

LOCAL COMMENTARIES

JUN 15, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

There is a wonderful country song sung by George Jones which is about great country singers who have now passed or someday will. To give you a taste of it, here are four lines:

“Who’s gonna fill their shoes?

Who’s gonna stand that tall?

Who’s gonna play the Opry

And the Wabash cannonball?

The answer, of course, is that no one can likely fill their shoes. Country singers are one of a kind. However, there is a subtheme, I believe, in the song, and that is that transitions are coming for all of us, either in life or in death. We cannot stop them. The question then is: How do we prepare for them? Who’s gonna fill our shoes?

As to dying, the answer is pretty clear — you should have a will. Even if your estate is small, it is not fair to have your heirs squabble over matters you could have addressed in a will making your intentions known.

Probably, more important, is the making of proper transitions while you are alive. For example, if you are changing jobs — make it easy for yourself, your family, your employer, and fellow employees by planning ahead for it. The same goes for politics. If you hold an elective office, you should let people know in advance if you not going to run again — so that they have an opportunity to choose a successor.

However, I think the most important transition is for those who own businesses, because transitions there can affect the livelihood of many as well as impact family dynamics.

I knew a man who was the owner of a very successful family business employing hundreds of people. Yet, his “Achilles heel” became evident when he tried to pass the business down to his three children – none of whom were either interested in or capable of running the business. It ended up in bankruptcy.

On the other hand, I have another friend who had a family business with three children who wanted to be a part of it. He worked out a transition where all three children eventually had businesses of their own, including keeping the existing family business going. That is what you call good transition planning.

Sometimes there is no family transition possible, so other arrangements need to be made. In that regard, it was good to see in the newspaper recently where two local businesses were sold to employees, financed in part by assistance from our local Industrial Development Agency (IDA.) To me, that is exactly the kind of activity the IDA should be involved with – retaining local jobs by helping with a business transition.

So, the moral of the story is that whether we like it or believe it — transitions in life and death are coming, are inevitable and should be planned for. Enabling someone else to “wear those shoes” is important.

Yet, George Jones has a point — some country singers are so good that I don’t think their “shoes” will ever be filled. Certainly, for sure, there will never be another Johnny Cash… who, on one unforgettable day, before an audience of inmates, sang the “Folsom Prison Blues” at Folsom Prison.

 

 

 

    A Jury Judges A Former President

                                                                                        JUN 8, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

For the first time in our history, a 12-person jury of one’s peers unanimously found a former President guilty of a felony after applying the highest level of proof in our judicial system… “guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

There are really two stories here — that of our judicial system and that of Donald Trump.

Trump’s story has been quite consistent — he has never done anything wrong, all of the court cases he is now a defendant in are “witch-hunts” perpetrated by Democrats, he is a victim of political intrigue against him, etc., etc.

What he doesn’t say is that all of the civil actions, indictments, and now a felony conviction are related, primarily, to one common thing — his own behavior.

I can think of no other politician in our history, President or former President, who has brought so much litigation upon himself.

These charges and convictions have all come from things that he did or tried to cover-up. Some are civil matters where large money damages were awarded to a woman he assaulted. Other actions deal with criminal charges associated with the way then President Trump treated classified documents, fired up a crowd to attack the Capitol, or in making phone calls to Georgia officials to try to change election results.

In all cases, the cause of his problems has been his own behavior. It wasn’t something foisted upon him, yet, he calls himself the “victim.”

The jury story coming out of last week’s conviction is, for me, a compelling one.

De Tocqueville, when he visited our country in the 1830s, was taken by the fact that in most frontier towns, the first public building constructed was a courthouse. One of the first things that Americans did in moving West, was to put up a building where citizens could litigate their differences and where the rule of law could be applied.

As to the criminal law, it is framed to favor the defendant whose freedom is at stake. In a criminal trial, the burden is upon the government to make its case, a unanimous decision is required for conviction, and the rules of evidence generally favor the defendant.

I remember also, when in law school, studying the manner in which the jury system was developed under British common law. A juror was described as a “man on the Clapham bus,” that is, an ordinary or reasonable person, not a person of power or prestige. It is such common people picked from a random pool of potential jurors who make up a jury. Serving as a juror, to those so chosen, is a civic obligation, and they take it seriously.

Twelve people from the “Clapham bus,” from various occupations, ethnic backgrounds, consisting of 7 men and 5 women found unanimously, beyond a “reasonable doubt,” that Donald Trump was guilty. After listening to 5 weeks of testimony, the verdict was returned within two days on all 34 counts.

That is good enough for me. The jury listened, evaluated and decided. That is the American way. Of course, how it plays out in the election is still an unknown.

Nevertheless, it was good to see that the rule of law applies to everyone in this country, including Presidents. However, it is sad that the country has to go through all of this. It is not an uplifting time in our history.

 

                                                   The Post-Journal

  Thirty Years With The National             World War II Memorial

LOCAL COMMENTARIES

JUN 1, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

 This past Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C., we commemorated the 20th year of the dedication of the National World War II Memorial. It was a special time. For me, it had all started in 1994, thirty years ago, when I had been first appointed by the President to the commission responsible for its creation and then became a member of the World War II Memorial Site and Design Committee.

There was one major “player” who wasn’t there that weekend, the chairman of that committee, Ambassador F. Haydn Williams, now deceased. Though he guided the design process, likely his greatest contribution was in finding, recommending and then working to have the site approved by the “powers that be” in Washington.

We had spent a rainy afternoon in January, 1995 visiting various proposed sites for the Memorial from a list which had been recommended by the Commission of Fine Arts of the United States (CFA.) At the end of that tour, we walked past the old Rainbow Pool, then in need of repair, at the end the Reflecting Pool. Willams stopped us there, a site that was not on that list, looked up at the Lincoln Memorial to the west, and the Washington Monument to the east and said: “This is where we should build the World War II Memorial. The Second World War was the most significant event for America in the Twentieth Century. It should be here, on the axis of the Mall, between Lincoln and Washington.”

It was the first I had heard of his vision for the site, and he never wavered from it. By July of that year, he had convinced the President of the CFA, J. Carter Brown, that the Rainbow Pool site should be considered. In September of that year, it was approved. In November, President Clinton, in a ceremony at the location, dedicated the site…and soon thereafter we commenced a national competition to select an architect to design the Memorial.

Ambassador Williams, during those days, spoke of the National Mall as “America’s Village Green.” In pursuing the approvals necessary to have this special site for the Memorial, he would say: “We are not looking to memorialize hubris or vainglory. We want to build something that will capture the American spirit of unity and common purpose at that time, and to also find a way to remember those who didn’t make it home, to bring them back to America’s Village Green.”

If he were alive today, Haydn Williams would be pleased with what the Memorial has become. Over 80 million have visited here since its dedication. It has become a place to gather and remember what a Nation can do when it is united in a just and common cause.

When you visit a World War II American Military Cemetery overseas, like the one at Normandy, you are overcome by a sense of common purpose and sacrifice. The thousands of marble crosses and stars of David that mark the graves are of the same size. One is not more important than the others. Generals are buried next to the lowliest Private. Rank doesn’t matter in those cemeteries.

You get the same sense of common purpose and sacrifice at the World War II Memorial . There are 56 granite pillars representing the states and territories of that time. Yet, the most populous state at the time, New York, has no larger pillar than American Samoa, probably the smallest territory. They all contributed, they were all working together. A huge, intertwined bronze rope visually connects and brings the pillars together.

The 4,000 stars on the freedom wall are separate and distinct, yet, they receive their power because they are together, each representing 100 of the 400,000 Americans who died in the war.

As you enter the Memorial from the granite arches on either north or south, positioned above you is a large, bronze victory laurel. The laurels are held there, not by rifles or bayonets, but by four sculpted American eagles with 12 ft. wingspans sitting atop beautiful bronze columns. They symbolize the American spirit from a united people that won that war.

If you haven’t as yet visited this special place, you should try to go. You will come home feeling more connected to your history and with a greater appreciation of what it means to be an American.

 

 

                The Post-Journal

   Where Have All the Workers Gone?

                                                                                    MAY 25, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

Recently, in discussing our local economy, a person versed in that subject told me that “all businesses in the area are facing a declining labor force. They just can’t find people to hire.”

In asking around with a few business people that I know, this was confirmed. Then it struck me how now, in many places, you see signs that say “We Are Hiring!” It doesn’t seem to be just a problem for manufacturing — you see such signs in front of factories, fast-food outlets and also from those in the healthcare field.

Thus, it was with interest that I read an article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago which had the headline: “Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies. The Whole World is Alarmed.” The sub-headline read: “Birth rates are falling fast across countries, with economic, social and political consequences.”

Statistics world-wide indicate that this is a growing problem almost everywhere. Statisticians estimate that the fertility rate (the average number of children that are born to a woman) needs to be 2.2 to just stay even with population growth. The United States now has a rate of 1.62…the “lowest on record.” The fertility rate in Japan is 1.26. Even China and India are falling behind.

There is no single answer as to why this is happening, but one researcher said that as economic conditions improve in a culture, people “have a preference for spending time building a career, on leisure, relationships outside the home, that are more likely to come in conflict with childbearing.”

That, to me, describes a bit of what is happening in our family. My kids mostly were married in their mid-twenties and soon thereafter started having children. However, most of our older grandchildren, who are either married or in solid relationships, may well not have kids until they are in their 30s. They are enjoying their lives and their careers.

What this all means, of course, is that school enrollments are declining. Fewer kids means fewer students. In checking state records on my old alma mater, Jamestown High School, the graduating senior class has dropped about 15% in enrollment over the past 20 years. At Southwestern it is down more like 30%.

That means not only that there are fewer kids going into college (think enrollment declines at JCC and SUNY Fredonia,) it also means that there are fewer of them available to fill the factory jobs and employment needs of our community.

There is really no easy answer to any of this except to keep working to be sure that there are good, well-paying jobs around so that future generations can fill them and keep our community here going.

Throughout my lifetime, Western New York has always struggled to maintain a strong labor force and job market. Yet, even on a national basis, since 2020, though jobs have grown by 3.8% the labor pool has only grown by 1.8% – so, what we have is really a national problem.

For a rural county, we still have a strong and diverse economy. Just think of the various companies and institutions that employ people here. But, right now, there are more job openings than there are people to fill them.

 

 

            The Post-Journal  

The Cursed Reality Of Inflation

                                                                                    APR 27, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

 

A reader of this column sent me a letter asking my views on this subject. Though not an expert on inflation, I do have my opinions about it.

My father likely had a great influence on me in regard to this issue. He believed that inflation was the bane of all and an enemy especially of the prudent saver. “The money you save will depreciate in value,” he would say. He was especially suspect of life insurance that would pay out a designated dollar amount: “The dollars you put in won’t be as valuable as the dollars that are finally paid out to your heirs.”

He hated inflation and it was one of the reasons, I believe, that led him to begin, in a small way, investing in stocks. As a dairy farmer, everything he earned on the farm went back into the farm. However, if non-farm income was realized – like the proceeds of the sale of a parcel of land – he would, after much research, invest that in stocks as a way to try to offset the impact of inflation. (This was back in the days before mutual funds, IRA’s or the 401(k).

He would not invest in very small or untested companies. He would look at companies that had a track record, evaluate their earnings, their price/earnings ratios, their debt…before making his decisions. He called it “value” investing. He would check regularly through reading Barron’s or some other investment publication on whether or not these companies were continuing to follow a prudent business plan.

He couldn’t control the price of milk (which usually never kept up with inflation,) nor with the cost of farm machinery which always kept rising at least, if not faster than the rise in inflation. So, he did what he could with these stock investments to try and offset the deteriorating value of money – which to him defined inflation.

There are a lot of causes for inflation–federal deficit spending, increasing wage rates, the cost of food, housing, energy, etc. But, what my Dad finally came to conclude was that inflation, no matter the cause, was a curse that would always be around and was something he couldn’t control.

Fortunately, we live in a country where at least one major economic player continues to try to tamp down inflation – and that is the Federal Reserve Bank. Though its primary means of doing so is setting the cost of short-term money loaned to banks, this interest rate lever has worked over the years to dampen inflationary pressures. As a result, the United States, despite its bloated debt and deficit spending, continues to be a country where, at least, there is a target of trying to keep inflation at or below 3% per year.

We are the envy of some third world countries whose inflation rates can reach 50% or even 100% a year.

I remember taking my first economics course in college. My Dad, who only had one-semester of college before needing to return home to run the farm, would quiz me regularly about what I was learning. But, in truth, I think he knew more about economics and, especially, inflation than I did. He experienced it every day in running the dairy farm.

So, to the reader who sent me the letter, here is my answer: I am still not an expert at knowing or understanding all that there is to know about inflation. However, my Dad was right – it is a curse that will always be with us, and the only way we can offset it is by the old-fashioned way of trying to increase our income, reduce our expenses, and then invest prudently to try to offset its effects.

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a former New York state Assembly member.

 

Turning Swords Into Plowshares

These are words from the Old Testament–words of hope from a prophet that, at the end of time, “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to that point, and mankind continues to find new ways to kill each other…of turning plowshares into swords.

It is sad, but true, that when new technologies have been developed, humans have found a way to turn them against each other. I would expect that back in the Bronze Age, spears were developed to hunt for meat or as protection against wild animals. However, it wasn’t long before they were being used in warfare between opposing tribes.

World War I is another example of how new technology was applied in war-making. Soon after the internal combustion engine was invented, nations found a way to mechanize warfare. By putting tracks and a gun on a steel reinforced platform, you could make a tank. Tanks were introduced to supplement the machine guns and artillery used in the trench lines and killing fields of eastern France during the conflict. (You will find cemeteries here with graves of thousands of Americans who died in that war.)

Perhaps the biggest “advance” in warfare at that time, was the introduction of the airplane. Balloons had been used during war, at least as far back as America’s Civil War. But, airplanes brought a whole new technology to fighting. Not only could planes fight each other, they could drop bombs from the sky behind the lines.

Recently, in Ukraine, we have seen the development of another new technology in fighting — drones. Drones, we thought, would be delivering packages to our homes. Now, they have been adapted for war. With a drone, you don’t need to endanger a pilot who could be shot down. Computers, GPS’s, and remote radio-control — guide drones that deliver bombs and destruction against the enemy.

This new, and somewhat strange way of fighting, will again change things in the world of warfare. It is apparent that ships are no longer safe. On several occasions, Ukrainian drones, both by air and sea, have sunk Russian warships. It now appears that Russia’s advantage in having a large Black Sea Fleet has been greatly compromised. Russia also has drones, many made in Iran, which have been used against Ukraine.

What does this mean for the future of warfare? Will an aircraft carrier carry drones instead of man-piloted aircraft? Will the aircraft carrier itself now become outmoded because of its vulnerability to drones? How do you defend against drones? Apparently, they can be shot down but also, many get through to their targets.

In the midst of this new development, old threats still prevail — especially, the threat of nuclear war. If there is one thing we know about human history, it has been a history of war.

All of this, to my mind, makes the work of our local native, Robert H. Jackson, even more relevant. At Nuremburg he led the way in establishing new definitions like “aggressive war” and “crimes against humanity.” In his words, as quoted in bronze at the Center carrying his name, an achievable goal should be to “root out of men’s thinking that all wars are legal,– [then] at last, we will have mobilized the forces of law on the side of peace.”

In the meantime, we need to keep yearning and hoping for those days promised by the prophet, when “swords will be turned into plowshares… and they shall learn war no more.”

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a Vietnam War Navy veteran.

 

                           The Post-Journal

 

               I Wish This Were 2025

                                                                                    FEB 17, 2024

ROLLAND KIDDER

 

I am tired of the political campaign already. I wish it were 2025, and that we were over with it.

Whether we like it or not, this year’s Presidential election is looking like it will be a rerun of 2020…and we have all been down that trail once before. The nation doesn’t need to go through it again.

The year is shaping up to be a rerun of incumbents. Joe Biden (81 years old) is an incumbent still serving his first term. Donald Trump (77 years old) is running as an incumbent still claiming the last election was stolen from him. You might call him an incumbent “once-removed.” Nevertheless, he is running as an incumbent and seems to have quashed most of his opposition, thus far, in the Republican primaries.

A columnist earlier this year called this an election that “no one wants or needs.” Yet, it looks like the election we are going to get.

I think what worries me most is that this rerun between Biden and Trump is likely to hold up anything of substance being accomplished in Washington. The former President seems to have now dashed (or trashed) hopes that a bi-partisan agreement on immigration will be accomplished this year.

Trump apparently thinks that he alone can single-handedly solve a problem which he was unable to fix in his first term… and doesn’t want anyone else to get credit for trying to help solve. If he is elected again, perhaps he will try to build a bigger and better wall along the Mexican border. Maybe a double or triple wall will do the job. We just don’t know.

He would obviously need the full-time help of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Refugees can come by boat as well as by foot, as we have experienced for many years off the coast of Florida. What we need is legislative action in Washington.

The whole year is also going to be consumed by what actions (or non-actions) are decided by the Supreme Court as to whether the Constitution prohibits someone who “egged on” efforts to overthrow a Presidential election can be prosecuted as a criminal or be prohibited by the Constitution from running for the job.

The political conversation is already swarming around who the candidates will be for Vice President. The odds are that Kamala Harris will stay on the ticket with Joe Biden.

Trump will keep us on “pins and needles” as to who his choice for VP will be…though I think you can write off any consideration of Nikki Haley or Mike Pence. There are plenty of “wannabes” who want the job…and my guess is that it will be someone who will take an absolute loyalty oath, and will agree to back Trump unreservedly on whatever he wants to do on anything without questioning it, including disrupting an electoral college vote.

The press will be deluging us all year with apocalyptic scenarios of how bad it will be. The headlines have already been written.

Sadly, for the country, it will again be a time of great division and not a time for finding common ground. That is not good for a democracy, ours included.

                The Post-Journal

  The Problem Of Pomposity In Politics

                                                                        JAN 6, 2024

                                                ROLLAND KIDDER

When Bob Woodward, renowned reporter of the Watergate scandal, came to Chautauqua last summer, he was asked to comment on the many Presidents he had covered and what made or broke their Presidencies.

His reply was that the biggest problem such politicians face is “pomposity,” in other words “getting too big for their britches.” He not only attributed President Nixon’s downfall to this…but reflected that it was all too often a weakness or illness that affected those in high places. After a while, they can come to think that the rules don’t apply to them.

Perhaps the word “arrogance” also describes the problem, and I have often thought, that “lack of humility” might also be an apt description for the malady.

Just to remove ourselves from current politics, I have always thought that one of President Lincoln’s great gifts was his lack of pomposity. He knew where he had come from–the “sticks,” rural Illinois. He knew that timing and luck played a lot in his getting elected. He did not tout himself. He recognized the agony that the country was going through during the Civil War, and he “agonized” with those on both sides of the conflict.

Another President who came out of that same era, was Ulysses S. Grant. Grant had been mustered out of the Army after a rather mediocre career and was working in his father’s leather shop business in the small town of Galena, Illinois when the war broke out. Initially, he was not invited to rejoin the U.S. military…so volunteered instead for the Illinois militia. At war’s end, he had become the General responsible for all of the armies fighting for the Union. Yet, he never forgot his humble beginnings.

Grant was not an ego man. He didn’t “toot his own horn.” He just kept fighting and moving south. Lincoln saw this and brought him back to Washington. Near the end of the war, the two would meet at City Point, Virginia where Lincoln would go out to inspect the front lines. Then, at night, he and Grant would sit around a camp fire and discuss strategies to end the war.

When the Civil War ended, there was an epic surrender meeting between General Grant and General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. Lee arrived in full uniform riding a pristine horse with his ceremonial sword attached to his waist. Grant arrived in a plain, soldier blue uniform wearing little, if any, rank insignia. He was disheveled and didn’t look like a conquering general, though one he was. He was courteous and deferential toward Lee. Had they been fighting on the same side, Grant would have been junior in rank to Lee.

Both knew the war was over. But, Grant didn’t rub it in. He showed humility. He didn’t tout himself or the victory.

Many years later, the same attributes would help propel Dwight D. Eisenhower to the top of the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. Eisenhower had come from a small town in Kansas, and he never forgot it. His lack of pomposity was the perfect anecdote in working with the upper crust in Great Britain, men like Winston Churchill and General Bernard Montgomery. Though burdened with the great task of winning a war in Europe, Eisenhower had a sense of humility about himself and the job he faced.

Humility and the lack of pomposity are not easily learned…they are grounded in character. It is trait we need to look for in our leaders.