Word: kinsleys
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...What the World Needs Now I appreciated Michael Kinsley's essay on the desirable leadership quality that is toxic to mention because of its allegedly élitist overtones: intelligence [Oct. 27]. I have long felt that U.S. presidential candidates, much like graduate students, should be subject to a preliminary examination in their area of expertise. Candidates should have some knowledge of, if not proficiency in, world history, religions, cultures, geography. As it is now, we assume the media and debates will ferret out deficiencies in candidates' education that might lead to serious, perhaps deadly decisions - and that is not always...
What the World Needs Now I appreciated Michael Kinsley's essay on the desirable leadership quality that is toxic to mention because of its allegedly élitist overtones: intelligence [Oct. 27]. I have long felt that U.S. presidential candidates, much like graduate students, should be subject to a preliminary examination in their area of expertise. Candidates should have some knowledge of, if not proficiency in, world history, religions, cultures, geography. As it is now, we assume the media and debates will ferret out deficiencies in candidates' education that might lead to serious, perhaps deadly decisions - and that is not always...
...Kinsley is correct to say we need leaders brave enough to practice astringency, telling people what they don't want to hear. But his example of a leader who was great because he was astringent - Winston Churchill - never won an election through astringency. Throughout the 1930s, when he was warning of the Nazi peril, he was almost uniformly rejected as a crank. He was not elected Prime Minister in 1940; rather, he was installed by a Parliament that deferred general elections until after the war. And when one was finally held, in 1945, the British people promptly voted Churchill...
...What the World Needs Now I appreciated Michael Kinsley's essay on intelligence and leadership [Oct. 27]. I have long felt that U.S. presidential candidates should be subject to a preliminary examination in their area of expertise. Candidates should have some knowledge of, if not proficiency in, world history, religions, cultures, geography. As it is now, we assume the media and debates will ferret out deficiencies in candidates' education - and that is not always the case. Marcetta Darensbourg, College Station, Texas...
...Kinsley names Winston Churchill as a leader who was great because he was astringent. But Churchill never won an election through astringency. In the 1930s, when he was warning of the Nazi peril, he was almost uniformly rejected as a crank. He was not elected Prime Minister in 1940; rather, he was installed by a Parliament that deferred elections until after the war. When one was finally held, in 1945, Churchill was voted out of office. We need not only great leaders but also a public great enough to accept their leadership. M.L. Cross, Stephenville, Texas...