Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Monday, July 28, 2008 7:35:14 PM
Presidents lead even if they must stand alone and go against popular opinion. Is a “President Obama” ready for such a challenge? In Berlin, Senator Barrack Obama appeared before the multitude. The media focused on the images and reported that all was good. A Presidential election, however, is about selecting a leader. Is leadership about more than images?
Senator Obama praised the Germans for their courage during the Berlin airlift, but apparently failed to appreciate the perseverance of President Truman in the face of constant criticism. In a recent column, Jeff Jacoby looks at the domestic challenge Truman faced.
For President Truman, retreat was unthinkable. "We stay in Berlin, period," he decreed. Overriding the doubts of senior advisers, including Secretary of State George C. Marshall and General Omar Bradley, the Army Chief of Staff, Truman ordered the Armed Forces to begin supplying Berlin by air.
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Yet the pressure to abandon Berlin persisted. The CIA argued that the airlift had worsened matters by "making Berlin a major test of US-Soviet strength" and affirming "direct US responsibility" for West Berlin. The airlift was bound to fail, the intelligence analysts warned. Truman didn't waver. "We'll stay in Berlin - come what may," he wrote in his diary on July 19. "I don't pass the buck, nor do I alibi out of any decision I make."
President Truman pushed forward in the face of severe criticism, second-guessing, and attacks on his judgment by members of his administration. He answered the challenge of his day. What level of criticism would a President Obama endure? How far would he go during a period of adversity to protect America? Is there any reason to think he would he have stood firm against the type of criticism Truman encountered to save Berlin? Yes, Senator Obama visited Germany and the images were good, but a lesson from the Berlin airlift and history – leadership is about more than images.