You Always Get The Full Measure of The Individual

As one who is interested in U.S. public policy, a familiar story I hear these days is one that endorses President Trump’s geopolitical, tax, and regulatory policies while rejecting his tariff and trade policies as well as his penchant for harsh rhetoric directed at his political opponents. I believe this refrain illustrates an often-uncomfortable reality of human nature: We do not get to experience only the qualities of our leaders, family members, and friends which we admire and endorse. Instead, we must deal with the full measure of the individual. I have shared a few stories below to illustrate my point.

One of my favorite stories regarding a former U.S. President is one involving President Truman and his wife Bess. As the story goes, Mrs. Truman was showing a group of women through the White House Rose Garden when President Truman briefly joined the gathering and shared with the group how well the roses had developed because of the manure spread around the flower bed. After President Truman left the gathering, one of the ladies asked Mrs. Truman if she could persuade President Truman to use the word “fertilizer” instead of manure. Mrs. Truman laughed and responded that the woman just did not understand how difficult it was to even get President Truman to use the word manure! One might observe that President Truman’s candor and authenticity in the White House Rose Garden may have been a bit over-done, but I would argue that this charter trait of candor and common sense served him and our nation well when he was abruptly thrust into the Presidency upon the death of President Franklin D. Rosevelt in the midst of WWII.

When President Truman assumed the Presidency, he had been left in the dark and knew nothing of the Manhattan Project to develop the Atomic Bomb. When informed about the project, he told the team to continue their work on the project. His decision to continue the work made it possible to have this weapon available to use at a critical time to effectively end the war against Japan after Japan’s authoritarian leadership refused to heed clear warnings to end the brutal war.

Walter Isacson’s biographies of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk provide compelling examples of intellectual and creative genius coupled with harsh, bare-knuckle treatment of employees and associates. The legendary accomplishments of Jobs at Apple and Musk at Tesla, and Musk’s other companies have brought products to market that most of us could have never dreamed possible 20 years ago. But Isacson describes Jobs’ brutal berating of key Apple employees’ multiple all-night efforts on important projects as nothing but a piece of “fertilizer”! Musk is described as sleeping on the Telsa factory floor for multiple nights to ensure the timely completion of a project while berating and firing employees who were unable to match his physical and mental endurance. Isacson describes similar conduct from Musk at Space X and Twitter. Isacson expressed keen skepticism at the view that it would be possible to enjoy the genius of Jobs and Musk without also enduring the dark side of both individuals.  

Some who have read this far in my blog must surely be thinking that this contradiction of light and dark is reserved for the world of U.S. Presidents and brilliant Fortune 500 CEOs. I would argue that this is not the case. Let’s look at a few examples from the life of the Apostle Peter whom many regard as Jesus’ greatest Disciple. In Matthew 14:28-31 Peter demonstrated his faith in Jesus by walking on the water but in an instant began to sink in the water as his doubts crowded out his faith. Similarly, in Matthew 16:16 Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah. But Luke 22:54-62 reports that a short time later Peter cowardly denied three times that he even knew Jesus!

Is anyone who has ever lived on this Earth been spared this positive and negative dichotomy. The answer is yes but for only one individual. His name is Jesus Christ. I John 3:5 tells us that there is no sin in Jesus. I Peter 2:22 tells us that “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” As a Believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I take comfort in the words of Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet did not sin.”

God bless you and thank you for the privilege of your time in reading my blog.