"The Only Guide to a Man Is His Conscience--Winston Churchill

May 31, 2022

 This is from a eulogy which Winston Churchill offered on November 14, 1940 in honor of a man he had bitterly opposed only months before, former Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.

"History, with its flickering lamp, stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and candle with pale gleams the passion of former days. 

What is the worth of all this? The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is his rectitude and sincerity of his actions. 

It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honor". 

Or as I pray.."for the wisdom to know the right thing to do, and the courage and perseverance to do it".



"I Never Felt I Would Live to See The Day, Yet There Remains Room for Hope"

May 16, 2022


Like so many who have studied Russian and Ukrainian history, who have come to have many Russian and Ukrainian friends and admire Russian and Ukrainian culture, I  never thought I would live to see the day when the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, would launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 
 
I thought Vladimir Putin was more prudent than that.  I thought that he would see the risk as too high and the likely damage to his own country too great.  That, of course, is not the way it has turned out.  That brutal reality—and the resulting deaths, displacement of millions of lives and the economic devastation which has resulted from it—they are a source of unspeakable pain and regret. I never felt I would live to see this day.
 
And yet…I am also reminded that I never thought I would live to see the day when the Soviet Union would peaceably dissolve as a collective body of nations committed to Communism and to the prosecution of a Cold War with the West.
 
I never thought I’d live to see the day when I, then President of Procter & Gamble, along with thousands of others, played a role in creating a business and organization in Russia, not that long after I had chased Russian submarines around the North Atlantic as part of the U.S. Navy.
 
No matter what the future brings, I will always be incredibly proud of what our P&G Russian men and women achieved. 
 
What do I hope to demonstrate with this sequence of events which I never thought I would have lived to experience?  What perspective, if any, might it offer for the future?
 
Several things, I believe.
 
It forcefully underscores that history is not inevitable.  That it does not proceed in a straight line.  That it encounters unexpected dramatic changes. 
 
It cautions us to not give up hope.  Situations that have looked borderline hopeless in the past have turned around, gotten better, more often than not in ways we did not anticipate. 
 
Above all, for me, it highlights the importance of individual agency
 
I do not believe that the peaceful demise of the Soviet Union, accomplished in the face of the great threat of it being violent, could possibly have happened if it were not for the person of Mikhail Gorbachev.  To be sure, there were underlying factors, importantly economic and the openness of communication that allowed Russians to see what was happening to the West.  These were foundational realities that helped prompt dramatic change in Russia.  But the evolution of this change in the peaceful way in which it occurred was by no means certain.  There were other Russian leaders, who I encountered first-hand, who would have fought the dissolution of the Soviet Union tooth and nail, with great loss of life. 

In much the same way, one can explain Vladimir Putin’s disastrous decision to invade Ukraine and trace it back to certain historical decisions, particularly the expansion of NATO and the failure to grasp the slim opportunity that existed at the turn of the century to bring Russia into a Pan-European security network.  As I wrote in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, there is “enough blame to go around.”
 
However, make no mistake.  The decision on how to respond to the perceived (or actual as Russia saw it) risk that Russia’s security posed by NATO was singularly dependent on the decision by Vladimir Putin, as he called on his army to invade Ukraine.  The decision to do this without even obtaining an even halfway accurate idea of how the Ukrainian people would react to this invasion also rests squarely on Vladimir Putin
 
So there we have two of the most unforgettable events in my entire 80+-year life that I never thought I would see the day to experience. 
 
This view of history leads me to the hope that there will again be a shift of power and belief system in Russia which this time will offer the opportunity for Russia to take its place within a broad European security network.  For decades, I firmly believed this is where Russia belongs.  Yes, bringing its own unique cultural history and belief systems but still part of Europe and the West. 
 
Having had the benefit of being close to Russia and Russian people for over 30 years and having studied its history and culture, I firmly believe that its natural place in this global spectrum we inhabit is part of a broader Europe.  There are already major differences between countries in Europe:  between Germany and Italy, France and the U.K., Poland and Spain.  Russia, too, will have its own unique characteristics.  But while it didn’t participate fully in The Enlightenment, all you need to do is read Russian literature and experience its music and its art and know its people to see the place it occupies in Western culture. 
 
The fact that this will not happen in my lifetime, with my now being over 80, is disappointing but it is not personally deflating.  I know history is long. No set of  experiences shows how it can change more than what we have experienced in Russia over my adult lifetime.

 I am conscious that achieving this end will not happen on automatic pilot.  It will require many things which I cannot pretend to know, but three I can:
 
1.     People in  Russia, as many are right now, standing up bravely, at risk of their lives, to argue for and  commit to advance as best they can,  a liberal way of life. People who do not give up hope in a better future.

2. That the people of the world at large and of the West in particular not "blackballl" the Russian people generally as evil and as "enemies" but rather recognize that this tragic decision to invade Ukraine was very much the decision of its leadership. And recognize further that in the long run--and the short run too for that matter--that working with Russia, without expecting we will see everything alike, is in the interest of the United States, Russia and the entire world.

3..   Ultimately, the emergence of a Russian leader who can gain the confidence of the Russian people and play the positive role that Gorbachev did over 30 years ago, and Lech Walesa did in Poland, and Nelson Mandela did in South Africa, and Abraham Lincoln did in the United States and that this leader will be matched with leaders from the West who are prepared to work together to achieve common existential goals. 
 

Troubled Times-- In Pursuit of Truth

April 30, 2022

 I can’t recall being more worried about the state of our world and the state of our nation than I am right now. 

 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response to it (the U.S. and NATO) continues to escalate, with not only no end in sight but, from my perspective, no credible exit in sight.  Putin is feeling increasingly “cornered”. There is no telling what he might do in order to avoid humbling defeat.The words we are employing aren’t helping.  Secretary of Defense Austin declaring it our ‘intent” to degrade Russia’s military and a thinly disguised commitment to regime change. In truth, I  believe this is the only path to a better future for Russia and a lasting peace for the world but our insisting on it  publicly isn’t going to help achieve that outcome; it plays into Putin's hands.
 
I wrack my brain for a “peace settlement” now that both Ukraine and Russia could sign on to.  I can’t imagine Ukraine agreeing to cede any new territory (apart from Crimea) to Russia, and it’s hard to imagine Russia agreeing to anything not involving some added territory.

In our own country, and in the world for that matter, I’m most troubled by the utter disrespect for truth.  The willingness to lie flagrantly and get away with it.  Kevin McCarthy, who aspires to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, denies making the statement that he felt Trump should resign after January 6, only to have a tape of his voice saying exactly that appear the next day.  With all of that, he appears before the Republican Caucus and gets a standing ovation. 
 
Putin tells lie after lie to the Russian public and, for still a majority, his words are believed. 
 
I’ve sometimes been asked:  “What is the most important thing you took away from college?”  My answer, starting over half century ago to this very day, is:  “The respect I gained for seeking truth and the importance of being open to new learning to determine what truth is.” 
 
When I’m asked what it is that led me to stay at Procter & Gamble rather than going to law school after my  first year, which is what I anticipated, the reasons I give always include, “It was my discovery that the search for truth in P&G was what I had experienced and loved at Yale.”  Yes, the search for truth.
 
Twenty-three years ago, I went to the Miami University campus to give a talk to the students.  Its title was:  “Does character count?”  When that topic had first been suggested to me, I dismissed it, saying the answer to this question was too obvious to merit a full-blown talk.   The faculty member I was talking to told me I was wrong.  It was a very live question in students’ minds.  He wanted me to address it.  And so I did. 
 
I began my talk with these four words:  ‘Without character, nothing counts.’”  

I continued:  “What is character?  I don’t know if there is a final answer,” I said.  “But for me character expresses integrity:  ‘Being as one.’ ‘Being as one’ in the sense of being faithful in action to your most important core values, to your promises, to your words.’ ‘Being as one’ in saying what you mean and meaning what you say and of being faithful to other people, especially when they are not present.”
 
I went on:  “Integrity manifests itself in a quality I’ve come to appreciate more and more:  ‘Authenticity.’  I love to hear it said of someone:  ‘What you see is what you get.’  No matter where this person is, no matter whom they are talking to, no matter whom they are talking with, they are the same, because they are just being themselves.”  

This kind of integrity, this commitment to truth as best we know it, this is the predicate for a functioning democracy, for a functioning company, for a functioning family, for a functioning relationship of any kind. 

I recall the chilling words of Goebbels during the Nazi era. In  so many words, "If you keep telling people a lie, again and again, many will come to believe it".

George Orwell in his all too prescient book, "Animal Farm", writes this: "Totalitarianism demands..the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run demands a disbelief in the very existence of truth".

 In times past, I believe there would have been broad, if not totally universal agreement to the commitment to truth even as we recognized our imperfection in carrying out this mandate.
 
What worries, indeed what scares me today, is that this commitment to integrity, to telling the truth, is up for grabs.  It has being flagrantly abused and the abusers are getting away with it.  This is true in our country; it’s true globally. 
 
What has happened to the aspiration for ideals we have held dear?  

With all this cause for deep concern, there are rays of hope and inspiration. We see Liz Cheney standing up to her Republican party's continued allegiance to Donald Trump and his outright lies. Above all, we see the Ukrainian people  and their President Volodymyr Zelensky pursue truth—freedom—at the risk and sacrifice of their lives

No matter which way the winds are blowing, we have only one choice. Do what we believe is right. Continue to pursue truth as we can best understand it. 

The Moral Responsibility of Business

April 23, 2022

 The current controversy involving the Walt Disney Company and the State of Florida led me back to this blog I posted over 6 years ago. My views have not changed. 

THE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS--WHAT IS IT AND WHAT IS IT NOT?

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

The Moral Responsibility of Business

Some time ago, we were presented with a real drama in the States of Indiana and Arkansas, as legislation was adopted and then quickly reversed which proposed to give license to business organizations to refuse service based on their religious principles to gays and lesbians.  A broad array of business and business leaders objected to this, including the nine leading businesses in Indiana, WalMart, Apple, and many others.  New legislation was quickly introduced (and that in Arkansas modified) to explicitly indicate that this “religious freedom” legislation could not be used to discriminate against marriage preference. 

This is a very tricky area.  To what extent do businesses have the right and indeed the obligation to voice their position on moral or ethical grounds to sway public policy?  How does business strike the right balance between its values and abiding with an existing social policy, imbedded in law and perhaps embraced by a large percentage of the population, including its employees or customers?

Getting down to cases, as CEO in 1995, I reached the position that Procter & Gamble should provide equal benefits to individuals who are in a codified same-sex partnership.  We did this at a time when the majority of Ohioans opposed same-sex marriage.  We were not taking a position that these individuals were wrong in their belief.  We were taking the position that the same-sex partnership as it was codified made it right in the name of fairness to accord our employees in such a partnership the same benefits as a married couple.  It proved fairly controversial, but I believed it was right to do.  We were not making a moral pronouncement on same-sex marriage at this time.  We were saying that in the name of fairness there was no reason to deny individuals in this relationship same-sex benefits.

A related issue being discussed here relates to the “personhood” of a corporation.  Is a corporation a “person” or not? 

Many, perhaps most, would say, no, a corporation is not a “person.”  As one columnist said, a corporation won’t be a “person” until it is capable of being executed in the State of Texas. 

Where do I stand on this issue?  It depends on what you mean by “person.”

I would say that business has a “responsibility” as part of society to advance positions that are consistent with what as a corporate body (leaders, board of directors, best understanding of shareholders) represent correct and moral values.  I say this because I believe corporations have a major role to play in forming the cultural and value-based character of a society.  I do believe that corporations need to be humble and circumspect in taking on an issue.  They have to recognize the practical need to balance the interests of those it serves -- its consumers, employees, shareholders and the community. 

In other words, if a corporation took on a value-based position that would destroy its business, it would end up serving no one in the future.  Would there ever be occasions where it would have to go this far, to almost literally have to go out of business?  Yes, if its being in business meant threatening the life of consumers or anyone else.

When I say a corporation must be circumspect and humble, I mean that it must avoid becoming sanctimonious or in any way believing that it has a role of being a priest or prophet in its times.  It must speak judicially, though sometimes bravely, and it must avoid failing to do the good it can do at a given point in time because it cannot achieve perfection. 

Take the situation of Procter & Gamble in Saudi Arabia many years ago.  There was a social mandate that men and women could not work together in the same office.  P&G might have, given its commitment to gender equality, said that it would not do business in Saudi Arabia at all.  Or, I guess it could have taken the position it would violate the laws, though that would not have lasted long.  What did we do?  We set up separate office locations where women would work and where men would work and they would communicate between the two offices.  We did this on market research work.  We also pushed to change the social norms and the laws.  We felt that was right to do, not only morally; we knew it would be better for the business to have people working together in that way.  We felt advancing gender equality was right for the business and right morally.  We kept advancing this goal.

This raises a question:  is the test for a company taking a position on a moral or social issue whether it is relevant to the success of the business itself in the long-term?  Put differently, should businesses only weigh in on social and moral issues that bear directly on having the right (and by “right” I include being morally correct) business and working environment long-term?  I think the answer is yes, but I’d underscore the importance of taking a long-term view.  For example, I believe the commitment to achieve a sustainable environment is one that businesses should advocate, even beyond the immediate benefit of that for the business itself.   Why?  Because I believe businesses should understand that having a world in which they or any other business could operate long-term requires a sustainable environment.

I believe that a business has social and moral obligations that go beyond simply making money in any short- or medium-term measurable sense.

At the same time, I believe its judgments and pronouncements must be measured and put in the context of a business’s doing what is right and fair for its employees, its shareholders and its consumers, recognizing there will always be different points of view on what is right and fair.  While always seeking to do the “right” thing.  It must avoid being self-righteous or over-extending its role in advocating for what it sees as the common good.



"This I Believe"

April 20, 2022

 I have often been asked to share my most important beliefs. Here is what I share:


“THIS I BELIEVE”



  • Personal leadership makes things happen.


  • No major accomplishment has been achieved without the combination of vision, hope, wise strategic choices, outstanding execution, continued learning and courageous determination to overcome adversity.


  • People and values are the foundation of any great organization.


  • Our trust is the greatest gift we can give one another … other than our love.  And without trust, love cannot long endure.


  • No one can perform at their best if they don’t feel respected and able to influence how the work for which they are accountable is done.


  • Appreciating the uniqueness, dignity and the value of every individual brings much to others and, often, even more to us.


  • Never feel sorry for yourself.  Don’t be discouraged for long.  Remember your blessings.  Never give up.  Life, like history, is a story of ups and downs.


  • Being effective and earning the respect of those we admire derives from three things above all others:  our competence, our character ... and how much we care.


  • The foundation of character is integrity:


    • “Try to do the right thing … always.”
    • ”Tell me what you think; act on what you believe to be true.”
    • “Always seek wisdom, courage and perseverance.”


  • A good life grows from a process of continual learning on how to better fulfill a few deeply held commitments.  These are my commitments:


    • Service         ]
    • Leadership   ]   My three “North Stars”
    • Growth        ]


  • Family comes first

Abraham Lincoln's Life-- A Source of Never Ending Learning

March 28, 2022

 A. LINCOLN BY RONALD C. WHITE, JR.

 
I have just finished reading a magnificent biography of Abraham Lincoln:  probably the best that I’ve ever read.  My head is swimming with impressions of lessons learned and statements to (with luck) be remembered forever. 
 
The evolution of Lincoln ’s thinking about God and about religion, his increasing belief in God’s providence, that God is exerting a personal influence on events, to what end one does not know, but to which as Lincoln said, “human instrumentalities” play a role, has never been more clearly presented.
 
The evolution of his thinking on the purpose and outcome of the Civil War, not only calling for the preservation of the Union , which was the underlying goal, of course, from the beginning, but also the eradication of slavery, emerges clearly.
 
Lincoln’s constant examination of what was right, his intellectual humility, yet combined with firmness on what he believed to be the ultimate aims for which he must stand (the Union and that “all men are created equal”) emerge as the most powerful forces which should guide all of our efforts. 
 
The incredible setbacks which Lincoln faced are brought to life:  the death of his two sons, his defeats in multiple elections, and the horrible travail of the Civil War itself, picking one general after another, starting with McClellan, but then also Hooker and Burnside, all of whom despite having, in most cases, excellent records coming into the assignment, failed to take the initiative.  There is no question that Lincoln both tolerated incompetence and sometimes over-managed (in one case having a subordinate general report directly to him, wreaking great havoc).  But he stood strong.
 
The book reminded me of the tremendous ebb and flow of victory and defeat in the Civil War.  Pretty much nothing but defeat in the early stages, with the battles of Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg ; then even after the triumph of Vicksburg and Gettysburg in 1863, further bloody setbacks under Lincoln ’s very best general, Grant, at Cold Harbor , etc.
 
The Civil War is filled with ironies.  If, under better generalship, the war had been won, say in 1862, slavery might well not have been eliminated as a result of the war.  If South Carolina and then the other states had not seceded and attacked Fort Sumter , the Civil War might have never started and slavery would have been perpetuated.
 
*******
 
Of this there can be no doubt, we were blessed to have Lincoln as our President.  He was able to hold fast to the core truths that needed to be sustained.  He allowed his thinking to evolve.  He was ready to change his mind.  I have to believe that his belief in God, in God’s providence, was a critical sustaining influence for him during 1864. 
 
*******
 
One should not underestimate the depth of Lincoln ’s ambition.  Without it, he never would have been President.  One thing this biography does not do, nor can I recall one that does, is bring to life the precise turning point (if there was one) that sparked that ambition.  There is no doubt in my mind, however, that the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and the tremendous controversy that then arose around “popular sovereignty,” was the trigger point for Lincoln’s passionate commitment to not see slavery spread and that, in turn, led to his taking a strong leadership role, including in the formation of the Republican Party.  Perhaps it was in that context that his ambition and belief that he was the right person to lead the country grew. 
 
It would be a great mistake to underestimate the political sensibility which Lincoln brought to his decisions.  He delayed the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation for at least six months, awaiting success in a battle (it came at Antietam , even though that success was muted).  Less well known was having reached the decision to replace General Rosecrans, he held off doing it until after the Ohio elections in 1863 because he knew that Rosecrans and his chief of staff, James Garfield, were both natives of Ohio and enjoyed immense popularity in their home state.
 
*******
 
Lincoln ’s family relationships emerge in a different way for me in this book.  The depth of his sorrow at the death of his sons is, of course, manifested.  But his deep affection for his younger son, Tad, as well as Robert emerged clearly.  One does come away believing that his relationship with his wife, Mary, was a distant one, particularly as the marriage progressed.
 
*******
 
There are a number of events that occurred during Lincoln ’s life and administration that bear directly on our lives today. 
 
-- For example, an editorial in the New York Times in April, 1861 describes the situation we face today and which has, in fact, been faced many times in the past: 
 
“In every great crisis, the human heart demands a leader that incarnates its ideas, its emotions and its aims.  Till such a leader appears, everything is disorder, disaster, and defeat.  The moment he takes the helm, order, promptitude and confidence follow as the necessary result.  When we see such results, we know that a hero leads.”
 
As Ronald White notes, something about this particular article compelled Lincoln to clip and save it, including its final charge:  “No such hero at present directs affairs.”  Note that this was shortly following Lincoln ’s inauguration. We have never needed heroes of this character more than at this moment of history. 
 
-- It is vital that leaders keep their cool in the type of crisis we face today.  A great example of Lincoln keeping his cool and holding the line came during the decimating Battle of Cold Harbor in June, 1864.  Grant lost 7,000 men, while Lee suffered only 1,500 casualties.  At the end of the day, Grant stopped the attack, admitting defeat.  The public began to turn against Grant, but Lincoln did not.  The President told a friend, “I wish when you write and speak to people you would do all you can to correct the impression that the war in Virginia will end right off victoriously.”  Surely, this sounds like what a great leader would say in any circumstance involving a long drawn-out battle such as we face today in our economy.
 
Lincoln ’s strength in staying the course in what he believed was right, despite enormous adverse criticism, was clearly demonstrated when he nullified John Freemont’s Declaration of Emancipation in the West early in the war.  He felt very strongly that this would risk Kentucky and, perhaps, some of the other South states leaving the Union at a critical moment. 
 
One of the lessons that emerges from the book is that there were many occasions where Lincoln wrote a carefully and strongly worded letter but he never sent it.  He concluded that it would be better to speak with the individual in person. 
How often have we experienced this truth.  Also telling is the fact that he always took responsibility for what happened even though, in many, many cases, it was a subordinate’s error that caused the negative outcome. 
*******
 
It also is fascinating to hear Lincoln speak directly to the question of whether the power to make war belonged to Congress or the President.  Here is what he told his partner Herndon:  “Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to confront an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose –and you allow him to make war at pleasure.”  That certainly leads one to think about Iraq . 
 
In a comment that President Bush and Dick Cheney would probably welcome and identify with, Lincoln, in defending his suspension of habeas corpus, argued that, “the courts work well in peacetime for cases involving individuals but in ‘a clear flagrant and gigantic case of rebellion’ the ordinary courts were often ‘incompetent’ to deal with whole classes or groups of individuals.”  He went on to say that:  “I think the time not unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few arrests rather than too many.” 
 
*******
 
Lincoln ’s melancholy soul was evidenced again and again, including this eulogy which he gave in honor of President Zachary Taylor:
 
            “Yea!  Hope and despondency, pleasure and pain
            Are mingled together in sun-shine and rain;
            And the smile and the tear, and the song and the dirge,
            Still follow each other, like surge upon surge
            ‘Tis the wink of an eye, ‘tis the draught of a breath
From the blossoms of health, to the paleness of death.
From the gilded saloon, to the bier and the shroud 
Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud!”
 
There is no mistaking how depressed Lincoln was at different times.  As he said following some of the worst moments in 1862:  “The bottom is out of the tub.  What shall we do?”
 
*******
 
There are many examples in this story that remind us:  “Don’t over-react to the press” and “Never count yourself out until you’re out.” 
 
For example, after Lincoln lost the 1858 election to Douglass, the newspaper Chicago Press and Tribune wrote:  “Mr. Lincoln is beaten.  We know of no better time than the present to congratulate him on the memorable and brilliant canvas he has made.  He has created for himself a national reputation that is both envied and deserved; and though he should hereafter fill no official station, he has done the cause of Truth and Justice what will always entitle him to the gratitude of his party and the keen admiration of all who respect the high moral qualities, and the keen, comprehensive and sound intellectual gifts he has displayed.”
 
Another example of how people got Lincoln wrong.  Attorney General Edward Bates, commenting:  “The President is an excellent man, and in the main wise; but he lacks will and purpose and I greatly fear he has not the power to command.”  Talk about getting it wrong.
 
It was also stunning to read the negative comments from renowned newspapers to Lincoln ’s magnificent Gettysburg Address (others did spot its timeless quality right away).   For example, the Times of London editorialized, “The ceremony was rendered ludicrous by some of the sallies of that poor President Lincoln.”  The Harrisburg Patriot and Union spoke:  “We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the nation, we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of.”  In contrast, the most famous orator in the country, Edward Everett, who had given the keynote talk at Gettysburg (over two hours) wrote to Lincoln , “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”  Amen.
 
*******
 
Lincoln expressed some of his most memorable thoughts in his annual message to Congress of December,, 1862.  They certainly resonate today: 
 
 “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.  The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion.  As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” 
 
Moving on:  “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.  We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.  No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us.  The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.”  
 
And, in its concluding sentences, “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free.  We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.”  It has never been said as well as this!
 
Another striking set of comments from Lincoln came in a letter that he had read at a major rally in Springfield , Illinois in September, 1863.  Here, he defended the right and importance of the free Negro fighting on behalf of the Union .  In this eloquent phrase, he brought this to life in the most stunning way:
 
“And then, there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue and clenched teeth, and steady eye and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while I fear there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they have strove to hinder it.”
 
Another letter of Lincoln , which he sent on April 4, following a talk with visitors from Kentucky , was one of the finest expressions of his beliefs.  He began it forcefully, “I am naturally anti-slavery.  If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.  I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel.” 
 
He went on to talk about his thinking on defending the Union and his belief that, in the beginning, he did not have the right to outlaw slavery where it was constitutionally admitted in the South.  He concluded this with one of the most human of reflections that I’ve ever read:
 
“In telling this tale, I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity.  I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.  Now, at the end of three years’ struggle, the nation’s condition is not what either party, or any man, devised or expected.  God alone can claim it.  Whither it is pending seems plain.  If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.”
 
Of all the things that Lincoln said, none mean more to me than these: 
 
“Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”  (He said this in his Cooper Union address, February 27, 1860.)…and this from his Second Inaugural:  “With malice toward none; with charity for all.”
 
 

How Can We Exit from the Human Carnage in Front of Us (Updated blog from 3/2)

March 4, 2022

 

How Can We Exit From The Human Carnage In Front of Us

MARCH 4, 2022

We have to give Putin an off ramp,—but one which guarantees the enduring peace and the future sovereignty and stability of the nation of Ukraine 

  
As I have written, while there is blame to go around in what brought us to this calamity over the last 20 years, there is absolutely no justification for the cruel, life-taking and unprovoked  attack which Russia has launched on Ukraine. I have no ambivalence but that we have done the right and only thing in imposing the very severe sanctions and currency restrictions on Russia that we have.  My hope is that this, combined with the inspiring resistance of the Ukrainian people and President Zelensky and increasing protests from the Russian people will cause Putin to pull back, to recognize that the decision to proceed was a mistake.  That the costs of continuing are too high for Russia and the Russian people to bear. And that the future of his leadership is at stake. As a result, good faith negotiations would be undertaken.
 
But there is another result that could come from this. A draconian result. One that is in front of us as I write this. Putin could declare that what has happened here is the manifestation of the West declaring war to hurt and  obliterate Russia that led him to demand Ukraine be in Russia’s orbit in the first place.  He could claim that this is the continuation of the West's encircling and attacking Russia that he has declaimed for decades.  And from this, he could say he is justified in going on an all-out attack on Ukraine, blitzkrieging its cities with bombs and rockets which he has not done here until now--but is beginning to do now-- and which he has the capability of doing. 
 
All of which leads me to say that without compromising our basic principles,  we should consider giving Putin an "off ramp", an outcome which allows him to claim some form of victory as incomplete as it is compared to his messianic, malevolent and delusional vision of making Ukraine part of a greater Russia.
 
What that off ramp might be could, I believe, involve iron clad agreements along these lines: 
 
1.    Ukraine will not become a part of NATO in the foreseeable future.  We wouldn’t agree or say that it “never” could be, but it won’t occur for the foreseeable future.  Which indeed is the plain, simple truth.
2.     The Russian armed forces will leave the borders of Ukraine immediately and completely.
3.     All parties, Russia, the West, all parties, agree that there will be NO armed forces in Ukraine other than those of the Ukrainian government. Neutrality prevails as was agreed decades ago in Austria. 
4.     There will be agreement by all parties, including Russia, that Ukraine will remain an independent sovereign nation without interference from other nations of any kind.
5. Crimea will remain part of Russia.
6. Sanctions against Russia, at least the most severe ones will be lifted. 
7.  The Minsk Agreement will be carried out, including providing appropriate regional autonomy to the Donbass and Luhansk regions. 

The first step to agree and implement these agreements will be to lay down arms, stop the killing, and begin good faith talks on a tight timetable. 

I have no idea if this can be agreed to or whether it suggests a path to a principled and sustained solution. I know the parties right now are far apart in their intent and their avowed views of what is right. It may be too late to avert the catastrophe. I hope not.



I am convinced that something along these lines is the only alternative to the truly dooms -day scenario in front of us for all parties-- the loss and decimation of hundreds of thousand, indeed millions of Ukrainian lives and a continued boiling human crisis in that country and if it is under Russian occupation. This would go on for years. It will make Russia's ten years in Afghanistan look like a cake-walk. And the Russian economy will crater, destroying the livelihood and well being of tens of millions of people. And there will be a geo-political contest that raises the risk of nuclear war. 

Whatever the difficulty of resolving differences, what ever the reality that there will need to be compromise, surely this is the right path to pursue.