A Mystery Man

I rarely comment on politics as I have a serious problem with how vehement conversations quickly become.  So, I watch without comment at the ridiculous antics of our elected officials at the local, state and national levels. 

At the same time, I am an avid student of history, anything historical interests me…American history, British, French, ancient, etc, etc.  So, currently I am reading a biography of one of the founding architects of our country/government.  I am on page 602 of 817 pages and suddenly the author goes into several pages of describing this man in very succinct detail in terms of his political style.  

All I can say, is in comparison to today’s politicians, we have slipped a LONG way downhill from our early days as a country.   Let me share some of these comments.  See if you can guess who this was:

·         He was accustomed to a chain of command and delegating important duties, but also accustomed to have the final say

·         He set out to construct a sturdy, well-run government

·         He introduced procedures that made government a model of smooth efficiency

·         He was open-minded in asking for opinions, but took umbrage when offered unsolicited advice

·         He encouraged  the free, creative inter-play of ideas, setting a cordial tone of collegiality

·         He prized efficiency and close attention to detail

·         Through his tolerant attitude, he created a protective canopy under which subordinates could argue freely, but once decisions were made, he wanted the administration to speak with one voice

·         He spoke slowly and took time to make decisions, letting plans ripen before enacting them

·         Alexander Hamilton observed that  he ‘consulted much, pondered much, resolved slowly, resolved surely’

·         He seldom retreated unless fresh evidence radically altered his view.

·         Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence

·         He was unmatched at taking the measure of people

·         It was noted that he possessed two great requisites of a statesman, the faculty of concealing his own sentiments, and of discovering those of other men.

·         A little known quote of his “Where there is no occasion for expressing an opinion, it is best to be silent, for there is nothing more certain than that it is at all times more easy to make enemies than friends.”

·         He never issued opinions promiscuously

·         He never had to retract things uttered in a thoughtless moment

·         He hated boasting

·         He never reneged on promises and was seldom duplicitous or under-handed

·         He respected the public and never provoked people needlessly

Boy, if we could have half of those characteristics in today’s politicians, what a different world we would have.

Who is he?  If you want to know the answer, write me at shallsted48@gmail.com