Word: napoleon
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Although what Lincoln had in mind when he spoke of "towering genius" is extremely rare--he gives Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon as examples--one still finds similar passions in the geniuses who grow regularly within a democracy, such as the kind of geniuses who fill the elite schools, Harvard not least among them. For these students, who might otherwise "boldly take to the task of pulling down," cheering for underdogs in the NCAA tournament is cathartic. The tournament allows their revolutionary energies to be safely spent...
...Napoleon was only 29 when he launched the invasion. A nasty, bourgeois knockoff of Alexander, the little Corsican hoped to conquer Egypt in a quick stroke. Why, exactly? Well, um.... to "liberate" it! Then he would proceed in triumph to Paris, depose the Directorate, take over France, and get on with ingesting the rest of the world. Napoleon was full of ideas...
...almost nothing went well. The Egyptians were not grateful to be liberated. Nelson happened by, and destroyed the entire French fleet in the Bay of Abukir off Alexandria, leaving Napoleon and his 36,000-man expedition stranded among scorpions and Mamelukes...
...normally get misty-eyed about the 200th anniversaries of stupid military invasions. But it is now a couple of centuries since Napoleon's expedition into Egypt fell apart completely. I feel it would be a shame if such memorable idiocy were to pass into darkness without a salute. The invasion of Egypt speaks to us even today. It is a vindication of the Mel Brooks version of history...
...Airbus executive who has worked with Leahy since his arrival calls him "small of stature but hard-driving and aggressive--like Napoleon--with large eyes that can fix the most powerful gaze on you." When he gazed at Airbus, Leahy saw a stuffy organization in need of a shake-up. One of Leahy's American-style innovations, says this official, was the open office. "He literally broke down the walls between the sales guys, the contract guys and the airline analysts, and put them together in regional units. The results speak for themselves." Says another colleague: "Once John sinks...