My wife and I recently took advantage of an opportunity to listen to a talk by the author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who was touring in support of the release of her latest book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960's. It was actually the second time we've attended one of her lectures, and we weren't disappointed. As I stated in a recent post, she is "A National Treasure". I've read a number of her books, including The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. In that book, she makes a statement that I thought was so profound, that I wrote it down. She said, "After a quarter of a century in politics, Roosevelt observed, he had found that change was realized by men who take the next step; not those who theorize about the 200th step." Of course, I later researched it and found the original source for the quote by Roosevelt.
The original quote goes like this: "I dream of men who take the next step; not those who theorize about the 200th step. It comes from a letter Roosevelt sent to the journalist Lincoln Steffens on June 5, 1908. The letter is fascinating from a historical perspective. Imagine the President of the United States writing a journalist directly today to argue about one of his or her political viewpoints. He even ends the letter with an offer of an in-person meeting:
If you will come down to see me I will go over all this more at length with you, and for once, instead of passing by or brushing aside what you say about me or about anyone else with which I disagree, I will tell you just what I do disagree with. Sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt.
The context of the letter is important, in order to fully appreciate the quote. Apparently, Steffens had accused both President Roosevelt and Secretary of War William Howard Taft of merely "fighting evil" as opposed to the Republican Senator (and Roosevelt's and Taft's main political rival) Robert M. La Folette, who attacked evil at its root cause. Roosevelt goes on to provide specific examples of how he and Taft also attack evil at its root cause.
There is no question that Roosevelt was a man of action. I refer you to my previous post on his famous "Man in the Arena" speech ("Why your critics aren't the ones who count..." and "In the Arena"). In his letter to Lincoln Steffens, Roosevelt also explains the importance of taking the necessary first step, which is also the most difficult. I am reminded of the old adage, "a journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step" reportedly first said by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu.
I would be remiss if I didn't also remind you of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's admonition that "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable". I'm not saying that the proverbial 200th step isn't important, but you have to remember two important points. First, trying to come up with the perfect plan for every single contingency is, as Eisenhower suggests, likely to be a useless exercise. There's no way to come up with a perfect plan, and sooner or later, you just have to get started. Second, you have to have an end in mind - that 200th step, if you will. If you don't know where you are going, it's difficult to get started. As Yogi Berra famously once quipped, "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else."
As always, I am reminded that there is a lot to learn from leaders of our collective past. There's no question that Theodore Roosevelt was one of our greatest Presidents - he consistently ranks in the top five of surveys of historians. And he is becoming one of my personal favorites (though Lincoln is still my favorite). To paraphrase him once again, I am more impressed with the individual who takes the first step than the one who theorizes about the 200th step.
No comments:
Post a Comment