What is a leader? A word that is very hard to define. Will's definition of a leader is a person who shares a common goal with his followers. A person that has followers and can lead those followers. The three people I chose to critique all have something in common. Harriet Tubman a great radical leader shares something in common with Franklin Roosevelt an electoral leader. Both have had to overcome great illness or pain. The pain they overcame made them a stronger leader that we know today. My third choice as leader is George Washington, who had to overcome something similar as Roosevelt. Roosevelt had the Great Depression while Washington had to lead a country just beginning their independence. Both struggled to lead the country in a time of need. Harriet Tubman like those men helped the slaves in their time of need to lead them to freedom. All of these people where great leaders as Garry Wills points out. I plan to point out the leadership qualities that Wills believed each person possessed.
I will begin with Harriet Tubman, a woman consider to be a hero of helping slaves to freedom. Harriet fits Wells definition of a leader by having followers. Her followers were the slaves' she lead to freedom. The ones that had the drive to go North to be free. She leads them to freedom by helping them escape to the North. Even though each slave was in great danger of being caught trying to flee. Harriet never lost a person she was trying to bring to the North. She helped many slaves to freedom. Freedom is a goal Harriet had that was shared by most slaves. Harriet also had a common goal with her followers. That is another part of Wells definition as a leader. One thing that made Harriet a great leader was her near death experience. When Harriet tried to save a fellow worker, she experienced a two-pound weight falling on her head. Harriet suffered a serious blow to the head that left her nearly dead and a dent in her scull. From that she experienced spells that sometimes put her almost unconscious or in a trans. That would help her later in her adventure to rescue the slaves. It was also the point that Harriet became liberated. She wanted to do all the hard field work. The hard work made Harriet very strong which later helped her when she went on her dangerous missions. Harriet drew great strength from her near death experience. That great strength was what made Harriet the great leader that she was. I agree with Will's Harriet was a great leader that helped many slaves to Freedom. By her own will power she succeed. But she not only exceeded she never lost anyone she was trying rescue. Not to mention that her great physical strength came from her liberation after her severe blow to the head. That and many other ways made her a great leader. Harriet went against popular thought in the south that slaves could not take care of themselves. She proved them very wrong. That is another reason that she was very popular.
Another person that grew great strength from pain was Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt suffered from polio that left him paralyzed. His courage and ability to overcome his illness is also what made him a great leader. Because of his disability Roosevelt often kept up an act to not let the people know, he was disabled. He never let the press photograph him in a wheel chair. It is as though he felt they would pity him. Be sympathetic to him and not take him as a serious leader.
But regardless that act he put on carried over to his presidency. A good example of ...
, the most heatedly debated topic of the civil rights movement, brings to the table many theories about its merit and effectiveness. "" was a phrase first coined by then-President John F. Kennedy. His intention was that "" would ensure job applicants would be treated "without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin (Pasour 1)." Ke...
At some point the American public must take a stand and decide what they feel are appropriate aspects of the person that will represent them for four years as the President of the United States. But when will this be, and will it even happen at all? I feel that drug use by a presidential candidate at any time in his life is grounds for ineligibil...
When the Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1789, it was without direction regarding . At the time, professional politicians were unheard of, and the idea of someone serving for more than one or two terms was unlikely. So the Constitution did not formally address the issue of term limits, although it was understood that officeholder...
The shocking fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe in the late eighties was remarkable for both its rapidity and its scope. The specifics of communism's demise varied among nations, but similarities in both the causes and the effects of these revolutions were quite similar. As well, all of the nations involved shared the common goals of...
Our court systems have, in recent years, been said to be inefficient, sometimes ineffective, and even backlogged to the point where cases have to be dismissed because of how long it takes for them to get to court. After my trip to court, these are my opinions and observations on the "Efficiency and Effectiveness of our Criminal Court System"....
Being the only democratic government with a legislative branch, the United States of America procures numerous criticisms, especially from advocates of a parliamentary procedure. Specifically, issues involving the intention of the founders, the influence of the electoral system, the power of Congressional leaders, the role of political parties, and...
Rationing medical care is a very important subject. Many low-and-middle income people lack health insurance and could not afford an expensive treatment if it were needed. The best care is given to those with money enough to pay for it or with good insurance plans paid for by employers. With the costs of health care increasing much faster than the r...
In the Human Rights Act, Chapter 214 of the revised statutes, 1989, it states that 'in recognition that human rights must be protected by the rule of law, this Legislature affirms the principal that every person is free and equal in dignity and rights without regard to race, religion, religious creed, colour, sex, physical or mental disability or e...
is a service that many people do not know about. In addition to guarding the president, has been used for many other tasks since its creation. At the close of the Civil War, between one-third and one-half of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit. On July 5, 1865, the Secret Service was created as a bureau under the Department...
Today the first meeting of the Continental Congress we had an opening speech by Benjamin Franklin and George Washington they talked about a government based on freedom and all 13 colonies will be united into one nation. We are going to have three branches of government; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Delegates from all 13 colonies appeare...
There are many conditions under which Ireland was divided into two nations. Two main men were the main leaders of this split, Emon de Valera and Michael Collins. Sinn Fein also played a large role. Their differing visions for an Ireland free of British rule was the root motivation for the split. Born in New York City in 1882, Emon de Valera was...
Wilson: 'The Imperial German Government' put aside all restraints of law or humanity and use(d) its submarines to sink every ship that tried to approach Great Britain and Ireland, the western coast of Europe, or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean' etc.' Bush: 'Saddam Hussein systematically raped, pillage...
For years now, China has been making an effort to update its nuclear arsenal to be at the level of other countries that are known world super powers. To do this, China has been buying both weapons and information, as well as spying to gain technology. The reason China is trying to bulk up on nuclear weapons is supposedly because, in the past, it...
Many people think that Al Gore will not make a good United States President, but have they really compared and contrasted his plans for our future? He has a lot of good ideas on how to create high quality universal healthcare for every single American. He is now working with Ted Kennedy, who is in charge of healthcare and Medicare, to help him ac...