Politician or Statesman?
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
I know a number of Mayors. One of them called me last night. They just wanted to talk over an issue that was coming to the forefront intheir city. They knew I would treat their conversation with confidentiality. (So, here I am blogging about it?)
This Mayor wondered how their stance on an issue might effect next year’s election. What position should they take?
This discussion took me back to a quote by James Clarke who was a US politician back at the turn of the last century.
“A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman of the next generation.”
My advice to this Mayor?
Do what you think is right and let the chips fall where they may next election. If you do lose, you want to lose doing what you think was right. You don’t want to win if you have to compromise your principles in order to do it.
In short, be a Statesman.
We need a whole bunch more of them.
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