American Valor Quarterly Issue 10 - Summer 2013 | Page 21

purpose is. Make sure they are in
harmonic with you. And make sure
you can trust them. And then make
sure they handle the problems you
hired them to handle. And you save
yourself as a leader for the problems
that are often outside the
organization. The leaders as you go
higher and when you get up to the top,
being the Chairman or the Secretary
of State, most of your energy has to
be outside of the organization,
sensing the environment, and the
opportunities, and the risks, never
losing connection with the
organization. Always
know what’s going on
downstairs, but look out.
And that was Reagan’s
great, great, skill.

for a moment and then he said, Well,
you know, I’m glad they think
America’s a good investment. Meeting
over.” And that’s what made him a
great leader to answer your question
in my mind. He wasn’t trapped in the
small bore circumstances of the
moment. He was thinking more
broadly while we were there
complaining about losing Pebble
Beach and losing Rockefeller Center.
He was thinking, “Isn’t that
wonderful. America’s such a great
country and they think it is such a

AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY - Spring 2013 - 21

George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum

was his principle objective: to end the
Cold War, to get rid of nuclear
weapons and to bring the Soviets into
the world of democracy. And
everybody thought it was loopy, can’t
do that. Well, it happened, just a few
years after he left office, but he set
the conditions in place for that. And
so, leadership is really about sensing
the world that’s out there, anticipating
what you’re really gonna have to do,
and then making sure your followers
are prepared for whatever might
happen. You all are going to have a
real challenge, those of you who are
going to stay in your
military cadetship and
then go into the armed
forces of the United
States because a lot’s
happening right now, a
Let me tell you the last
lot’s changing, you know.
story in that chapter. We
We’re coming back from
had another day a few
Iraq,
back
from
weeks later where the
Afghanistan and we’re
whole Cabinet was irate.
going to have to reset the
The Japanese were buying
force: a word I don’t
everything, they were
particularly like, but it’s
investing—they were
what we have to do. I’ve
buying everything all over Colin Powell in his final role in public service, as Secretary of State in the been through this many
Bush administration.
the United States. They
times. When the Cold War
bought Rockefeller Center. They even great country they want to invest in ended I was the Chairman and we had
bought the Pebble Beach Resort area. it. Isn’t that terrific?”
a great force, but we lost the Soviet
They were buying everything, and the
Union. There was no Red Army or
Cabinet demanded to see the And that’s what made him a great Red Navy or Red Air Force to worry
President. We had to do something leader: he could think big like that. about, and so we took it upon
about it. Congress was irate, the Now it turned out the Japanese made ourselves, the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
American people were raising the a mistake. They lost all their money. to tell the Congress, we wanna cut the
devil. They demanded, “We’ve got to It was not a good investment, but size of the armed forces 25%. What?
see the President, Colin.” So I that’s beside the point (laughs). The It’s good for the American people.
marched them all into the Oval point is that Ronald Reagan was that That’s our purpose, to give the
Office and there he was sitting there. kind of a leader and great leaders are American people a peace dividend
This time he knew whatever was always sort of one level of abstraction and we did that. We cut 500,000
coming was his problem; the whole above the rest of the organization. soldiers, 250,000 reserves, 250,000
Cabinet was there. And so they started They’re sensing the outside civilians, and we cut the budget 25%.
beating up, “Mr. President, we got to environment; they’re thinking big And it helped lead to the surplus that
do something. People are outraged, thoughts. In Reagan’s case, this big President Clinton was able to create
what are we going to do? What are thought was, “Communism is bad. over the next several years and we
we going to do?” And he just listened Capitalism is good. Democracy is ended up with a great force that
very carefully and patiently and then good. Now how do I convince the demonstrated itself when we got back
when they were all through, he paused Soviets of that?” You know, and that to have to go to Desert Storm. And