March 29, 2012--Tyrannies of the Weak

In 1956, during the presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower, as the Suez Crisis was heating up, in a letter to a close advisor and friend, Swede Hazlett, DDE wrote that at a time when--

Nasser and the Suez Canal are foremost in my thoughts, in the kind of world that we are trying to establish, we frequently find ourselves victims of the tyrannies of the weak.

In general, American policy at the time was to support colonial peoples attempting to win national independence. In this situation, Eisenhower said--

We unavoidably give to the little nations opportunities to embarrass us greatly.

The great Western nations had no choice, he felt, but to swallow their pride, accept the insults, and attempt to work, as he said, to--

--bolster the underlying concepts of freedom.

Even though, he concluded, this was--

--frequently costly. Yet there can be no doubt that in the long run such faithfulness will produce real rewards.

This from the second volume of Stephen Ambrose's fine two-volume biography.

Where is there such insightful, courageous leadership today?