The Last Truly Great Manager
They're not making men like General Lucius Clay anymore.
Last night, while pondering the clown show of inept narcissists who are now running the world and seem determined to blow it up, I asked myself: “Who was the last truly great manager of affairs—the guy you call when you need to bring order to chaos? The guy who solves problems instead of creating them, cleans up messes instead of making them, averts crises instead of courting them, and tranquilizes crazy passions instead of inciting them?
The name that immediately came to mind was General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978), who is best known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II.
General Clay was an exceptionally gifted engineer, organizer, and leader for whom no task was too big and difficult. He is perhaps best remembered for organizing and directing the Berlin airlift—starting on July 26, 1948—to defy the Soviet blockade of the city. It was stupendous feat of logistics. At one point, cargo planes landed at Tempelhof every four minutes, 24 hours a day, the Cold War’s defining moment and a demonstration of American support for Berlin. The airlift last 324 days and ended on September 30, 1949.
Clay served as President Eisenhower’s closest advisor and emissary to Europe to handle whatever troubles visited that ever-troubled Continent. He was also the chief planner of the Interstate Highway system.
During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Clay to go to Berlin to assess the situation. He then accompanied Kennedy to Berlin two years later. During his famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech, Kennedy said, “I am proud .. to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.” This was a brilliant rhetorical move on Kennedy’s part, because most Germans fondly remembered Clay for his firm but competent leadership during the occupation.
General Lucius Clay—calm, competent, modest, socially gifted, disciplined, and reasonable. Of all men, he was probably the most instrumental in rebuilding Europe after World War II and establishing America’s reputation for competent and reasonable leadership.
What would he think of the inept, hollow, disordered, self-aggrandizing lightweights who now occupy the world stage?
Thank you John for the reminder that USA once produced men like General Clay.
I have to agree. While the world around us is apparently falling apart, it is made all the more frightening by the fact that there is barely one ‘statesman’ that you can think of, that is showing any kind of intelligent leadership.