In this essay I will write about what is required of leadership to run a successful country and get through a revolution. I will do this using Joseph Ellis' book Founding Fathers. Knowing what is required of leadership puts a new perspective into your mind about what leadership is and how important it is to depend on others for support.
"Strong-minded, resolutely willed, you can create out of nothing a
great business, a huge empire, a New World."
-Charles Bristol
The declaration of Independence was made from dedicated, honorable and wise men. The Revolutionary war was won by brave, strong and courageous gentlemen. The men who created our boundaries and laws, wrote the Constitution of the United States and made our country what it is today were honest, reliable, and inspiring men. Our founding fathers as a whole were the leaders of our country. There are many qualities of a leader, and separately the founding fathers did not have what it took to create a stable and running country. The work that was progressing in 1776 would never have been completed to make us a happy and free country as we are today without the collaboration of all the founding fathers. The fathers different personalities and qualities put together as a whole is what made a true leader. The fathers together defined the true meaning of leadership.
The word leadership can have many different meanings. Perseverance, strength, bravery, creativity, confidence, honesty and integrity are all qualities of a leader. The definition of leadership from dictionary.com is stated that leadership is "the capacity to establish direction and to influence and align others toward a common goal, motivating and committing them to action and making them responsible for their performance." This definition of leadership is true when it is put into perspective of the Revolutionary war. The leaders of the revolution did establish direction, they influenced, they aligned and motivated everyone towards a common goal and they also made everyone responsible for performance. Leadership also needs to have many qualities. Courage, strength, confidence, bravery, strong will, compassion, determination are just a few of all the qualities you need to be a successful leader of a huge country. However, not all of the revolutionary leaders had all the qualities of leadership. Some of the founding fathers showed more of one quality than another. They all had different styles of going about things, and they all had different qualities than the founding father sitting next to them. Even though the founding fathers had many differences, they all had the same goals, and they all achieved them.
To be a good leader you have to obtain qualities such as bravery, courage, strength, confidence and strong will. Some of the founding fathers who demonstrated these
qualities everyday of their lives are George Washington, John Adams, and Aaron Burr. They were hard headed and they never gave up a fight. John Adams was committed to the revolution. Joseph Ellis wrote in his book "Adams was virtually unbeatable. His career, indeed his entire life, was made by the American Revolution"(1). John Adams was extremely aggressive and strong willed. With his wife Abigal on the side, her being very compassionate and intelligent, they made a great team. Them together almost would make a great leader, but not quite. George Washington is the brute of the group. He is very strong, brave and courageous. He isn't afraid to improvise and does well with whatever he chooses to do. To be a strong leader you have to have a title. It may be morally unfair, but it is surly justified. All the founding fathers were very important people in their day. Especially George Washington. He was the "man who unties all hearts. He was the American Zeus, Moses and Cincinnatus all rolled into one"(1).
Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson were passionate, determined and wise individuals. These are all qualities a good leader needs, but just as the other fathers, they fall short of all the dominate qualities that are needed to be a strong successful leader by themselves to run the United States of America. Benjamin Franklin, he was the guy to get stuff done. He was determined and hardworking and he would never let you down. He was a very intelligent man and very compassionate. Madison was a behind the scene man. He was very nice and modest. Although he could be very sneaky and manipulative without others even knowing it. He teamed up with Jefferson in a point in his life and as Jefferson glowed, Madison after doing all the work hung back. Later after the passing away of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, Madison started to lead debates and in the 1980's helped the creation of the Constitutional Convention. He then got the title of "Father of the Constitution". He was a great speaker which helped in his leadership, and after Washington and Franklin's death, he was "generally regarded as the most influential political leader in the new nation"(1).
Strong leadership requires passio
n, perseverance, strength, integrity, creativity. You need to be confident, honest and brave. Aside from their ego, honor, genius level intelligence and their competitive nature with another, the founding fathers were intelligent men who all shared qualities of leadership. However to have a strong and unmoving backbone of leadership running the new nation, it took a collaborative effort between all of the founding fathers. John Adams, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson were named the four major fathers of the American Revolution. John Adams and George Washington being hard, competitive and strong willed while Franklin and Jefferson were passionate, very wise and determined, together they made a leader. However great leadership came from Madison, Hamilton, Burr, Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Franklin; all of the founding fathers put together. But after the war and after George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were gone, the revolution was still in progress. John Adams took presidency, and the country still needed to be set up and they needed laws to follow. The constitution was a working progress with Madison as the leader. The other fathers, contributed to the continental congress. The American Revolution was a long process. Getting through the revolution, the war and writing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution took the collaborative effort of all the founding fathers. It took great leadership and commitment from all the fathers. Leadership requires a lot of qualities that one person alone can not contain. However, all together the founding fathers gave us that leadership the country needed. Together, the founding fathers achieved their dreams.
Joseph Ellis, Founding Fathers (1)
