Humility: Lessons from McGovern and Dole

A story of humility, honor, and respect from two politicians.

I begin with a personal reflection.

One is how time flies. In talking with a twenty-something, she had a vague idea of who Bob Dole and had never heard of George McGovern.

Two is how the political commitments in our lives can change. George McGovern was my first vote for President of the United States. I was attending Miltonvale Wesleyan College in Kansas at the time. I had a large picture of McGovern in my room. I liked his stance on the war. I liked his proposal to reform welfare. I was with him all the way, even when I knew that he would lose in a big way. Later, Bob Dole simply struck me as a decent man. Given some of the issues that Bill Clinton was having at the time, I thought Dole would be an upgrade from what we had. Frankly, I still do think that way. Of course, it was not to be.

In both cases, I backed the loser in the presidential election. Yet, I pause for a moment to reflect on these two men.

Luke 14:7-11 warns us of grabbing honor and respect for ourselves. Jesus warns us that the way things work in the world, we will find it better to approach it with humility.  "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" (Luke 14:11). Humility is an elusive virtue; one cannot manufacture it. If we become conscious of our humility, we are likely no longer humble. Yet, in 14:12-14, Jesus tells us to give honor and respect to all, and not just family and friends. If disciples of Jesus host a banquet, “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”

Let us return to the story of two defeated presidential candidates.

George McGovern died in 2012. He was a United States Senator whom many people will remember, if at all, as the Democrat who lost to Republican Richard Nixon in one of the most lopsided defeats in presidential history.

McGovern was no coward. In truth, he was a decorated bomber pilot in World War II, a man who served his country bravely and well. His staff urged him to talk more about his war experience, but like so many veterans, he was reluctant to do so. He described himself as the son of a Methodist minister. He was a "good old South Dakota boy" who went off to war. He was a man who had been "married to the same woman forever."

In short, he was humble.

Maybe that humility served him well, because at the end of his life he received the World Food Prize award along with Republican Senator Bob Dole. Writing in The Washington Post, Dole said,

"Our most important commonality -- the one that would unite us during and after our service on Capitol Hill -- was our shared desire to eliminate hunger in this country and around the world. As colleagues in the 1970s on the Senate Hunger and Human Needs Committee, we worked together to reform the Food Stamp Program, expand the domestic school lunch program and establish the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children."

Later, they worked together to strengthen global school feeding, nutrition and education programs. They jointly proposed a program to provide poor children with meals at schools in countries throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, one that both Presidents Clinton and Bush supported. That program has now succeeded in providing meals to 22 million children in 41 different countries.

George McGovern and Bob Dole. Democrat and Republican. Both fought in World War II. Both ran for president and lost. Nevertheless, they are not, in any sense, losers. Losers do not work together, quietly and effectively, to provide meals to 22 million hungry children.

We live in a partisan political climate. Even if these two men are politicians, their lives show the kind of humility that would put them in the Humility Hall of Fame. They also demonstrate the importance of extending to all persons the honor and respect they deserve as those made in the image of God.

Simplicity of Speech

Jesus said that our speech should be simple, plain, and honest speech. In Matthew 5:37, we read, “Let your word be "Yes, Yes' or "No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Richard Foster[1] applies this notion by saying that we are to reject jargon and abstract speculation, whose purpose is to obscure and impress rather than to illuminate and inform. He points out that plain speech is so difficult because we are afraid of what other people will think. He thinks we need to listen to the divine center of our lives in order to have simplicity of speech.

One might think of “Silent Cal” as a master of simplicity. President Coolidge, well-loved in the 1920’s, had memorable sayings.

• No one ever listened himself out of a job.

• I’ve never been hurt by something I didn’t say.

• The business of America is business.

• If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called on to repeat it.

• If you see 10 troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you.

Is there wisdom in simplicity? Is there depth of thought in simplicity of words?

John C. Maxwell, author of a number of best-selling books on leadership, points out that William Henry Harrison delivered the longest presidential inaugural address in U.S. history. The speech, delivered during a cold rain, lasted two hours. Despite the frigid weather, President Harrison refused to wear an overcoat or top hat. He caught a cold that developed into pneumonia, from which he died a month later. Maxwell sees a leadership lesson in this: “It pays to simplify.”

In “Connectors Keep it Simple,” Maxwell identifies two myths about simplicity. First, he says,

“We often associate simplicity with a lack of depth or shortage of intelligence. Conversely, we ascribe intelligence to people who communicate using big words or hard-to-grasp concepts. Somehow, we assume that anyone speaking in a dense, academic style must be smart. The issues we face in life can be complex, with all sorts of intricacies. However, as leaders and communicators, our job is to bring clarity to a subject, reducing rather than adding to its complexity. ... Simplicity is a skill, and it’s a necessary one if you want to connect with people when you communicate.”

A second myth about simplicity, Maxwell says, is that “simplicity is easy.” He writes,

“To us, simplicity means taking shortcuts and denying the complex reality of life. However, in a society flooded with information, simplicity has never been more difficult to achieve. Nor has it ever been as important.”

“Perhaps nobody understands simplicity better than Apple Inc. The company put its computers back on the map by touting their user-friendly interfaces. Then Apple leapfrogged the competition by pioneering devices that simplified the way we access, store and share information. Despite his success in bringing about simplicity, Apple CEO Steve Jobs attests to the difficulty of doing so. If you read Apple’s first brochure, the headline was ‘Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.’”

            His point is that if you want to communicate, “Keep it simple.” Do not try to dazzle people with the depth of your knowledge. Do not overpower them with information. Rather, offer clarity and simplicity.

            George Plasterer is working on this virtue of keeping his writing simple.

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[1] Celebration of Discipline, (New York: Harper & Row, 1978), 81.

Benghazi

One of the things that has interested me is the chronology of the night. Here is what I have learned.

Valerie Jarrett was the key decision-maker for the administration, the night of the Benghazi terrorist attack on 9/11/2012.

The chronology of the evening of 9/11 are as follows:

At approximately 5 PM Washington time, reports came in through secure-channels that Special Mission Benghazi was under attack. Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey summoned the President,and briefed him on the crisis, face to face.

Subsequent to that brief meeting, President Obama proceeded to the White House to dine in his living quarters.

After supper, Barack Obama had a telephone conference scheduled with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior Advisor to the President, Valerie Jarrett was present for that conference, which was held due to problems the President was having with the perception of him snubbing Netanyahu in previous, formal encounters.

The telephone call between Obama and Netanyahu carried on for a full two-hours, creating the appearance of respect between the two world leaders.

As that meeting drew to a close, Ms. Jarrett, who is also the Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, went from the living quarters to the White House Situation Room, where the attack in Benghazi was being monitored by Dempsey, Panetta and other top-ranking officials.

Whether she was instructed by the President to go there, or if she went of her own volition,  is only known by the President and herself.

A critical question that needed to be answered, and the sole military-order that could have launched offensive-actions, neutralizing the Ansar al Sharia terrorists attacks on the Mission (the purpose of which is detailed here) and its subsequent attacks on the adjacent CIA Annex, was the issuance of “Cross Border Authority”, an order that can only be issued by the Commander in Chief, himself.

As was reported earlier by Conservative Report, Cross Border Authority was denied.

According to Chip Jones, writing on August 5, 2013, two revelations are deeply troubling:

First, it is reported that an Army Special Forces team was present with an AC-130U Spooky (also known as a Spectre Gunship) on the tarmac at the airport in Tripoli, Libya. The Spooky is a technologically sophisticated, tactical aircraft, operated by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command.

It operates under the overall Special Operations Command stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, which is reportedly in charge of all military special operations units, including: Army Special Forces, Navy SEALS, Rangers and certain Marine units, as well as the USAF AC-130Us, and “stealth Blackhawks,” used in the Bin Laden raid.

The AC-130U Spooky is equipped with weapons that sync with laser-designators, like those that Woods, Doherty and Ubben had on that lonely rooftop above the CIA Annex. The laser-designator was used to “paint” the mortar targets during the attack, subsequently claiming the lives of Woods and Doherty, and leaving Ubben without a leg. Had the AC-130U been on station, over the CIA Annex in Benghazi, moments before the mortar rounds were fired, instead of "awaiting further instructions," the entire outcome of the Benghazi fiasco would have been different.

Add to that, a team of Green Berets on the ground to secure and/or evacuate the Annex, and the outcome would have been two SEALS still alive, and a mess of dead terrorists.

The second, and most troubling aspect of the refusal to issue Cross Border Authority is, who issued the refusal. Rather than the President, the Commander In Chief, making critical decisions, granting or denying the authority to initiate offensive-actions in support of our valiant fighting men, the decision not to take action was made by a person, to whom the people did not elect, nor did the Congress have confirmation power over.

The military-order, not to initiate action, saving our men in Benghazi, was issued by the President's Advisor, Valerie Jarrett.

And this is a “phony” scandal?