LEADERS LEAGUE FOR PEACE
in order that the requirements shall be fully met. (At
banquet in honor of birthday of William McKinley,
Canton, O., January 27, 1903.) Mem. Ed. XII, 493; Nat.
Ed. XI, 236.
service and for sacrifice. (At Chicago, December 10,
1912.) Mem. Ed. XIX, 481; Nat. Ed. XVII, 356.
LEADERS. See also BOSSES; CONGRESSIONAL
LEADERS; EXPERTS; MORAL INFLUENCE ; ROOSEVELT .
LEADERSHIP. See also INTELLECTUAL LEADERSHIP;
POLITICIANS.
LEAGUE FOR PEACE. An efficient world league for
peace is as yet in the future; and it may be, although I
sincerely hope not, in the far future. (Everybody's,
January 1915.) Mem. Ed. XX, 158; Nat. Ed. XVIII,
LEADERSHIP—FAILURE OF. There can be no
greater misfortune for a free nation than to find itself
under incapable leadership when confronted by a great
crisis. This is peculiarly the case when the crisis is not
merely one in its own history, but is due to some
terrible world cataclysm—such a cataclysm as at this
moment has overwhelmed civilization. (At Cooper
Union, New York City, November 3, 1916.) Mem. Ed.
XX, 515; Nat. Ed. XVIII, 442.
LEADERSHIP, POLITICAL. When I left the
Presidency I was prepared, and of course am now
prepared, not to be a leader at all; I don't see how an
outsider can be a leader; that is the business of the
President and the party leaders who hold office; but it is
folly to try to be a leader when all that those who appeal
to you really desire is that your leadership shall count in
getting them elected, but shall be instantly thrown aside
when it comes to dealing with party policy after once
they have been elected, and no longer need your
assistance. (To H. C. Lodge, April 11, 1910.) Lodge
Letters II, 370.
LEADERSHIP IN A DEMOCRACY. There can be
no greater mistake from the democratic point of view,
nothing more ruinous can be imagined from the point of
view of a true democracy, than to believe that
democracy means absence of leadership. Of course it is
hard to tell exactly how much can be done in any given
case by the leadership that is differentiated from the
mass work. (Before Amer. Acad. and Nat. Inst. of Arts
and Letters, New York City, November 16, 1916.)
Mem. Ed. XIV, 451; Nat. Ed. XII, 328.
LEADERSHIP IN THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY.
In the matter of leadership, both local and national, we
may trust the events of the next year or two to develop
our ablest and most resourceful man; and for every
position the leader must be chosen, not in the least with
reference to his own desires, but solely with regard to
the needs of the people, for the Progressive party is the
servant of the people. No man should come into this
party with the idea that he can establish a claim on it; he
must be content with the opportunity it offers for
136.
____________. It is our duty to try to work for a great
world league for righteous peace enforced by power;
but no such league is yet in sight. At present the prime
duty of the American people is to abandon the inane
and mischievous principle of watchful waiting—that is,
of slothful and timid refusal either to face facts or to
perform duty. Let us act justly toward others; and let us
also be prepared with stout heart and strong hand to
defend our rights against injustice from others.
(Everybody's, January 1915.) Mem. Ed. XX, 167; Nat.
Ed. XVIII, 143.
____________. Before we make such a league for the
future, let us in the present live up to our engagements
under The Hague conventions and without delay protest
on behalf of Belgium. If we are not willing to undergo
the modest risk implied in thus keeping the promise we
have already made, then for heaven's sake let us avoid
the hypocrisy of proposing a new world league, under
which we would guarantee to send armies over to
coerce great military powers which decline to abide by
the decisions of an arbitral court. Above all, let us avoid
the infinite folly, the discreditable folly, of agitating for
such an agreement until we have a naval and military
force sufficient to entitle us to speak with the voice of
authority when fronted with great military nations in
international matters. Let us not live in a realm of
childish make-believe. Let us not make new and large
promises in a spirit of grandiloquent and elocutionary
disregard of facts unless and until we are willing by
deeds to make good the promises we have already made
but have refrained from executing. (Metropolitan,
August 1915.) Mem. Ed. XX, 355; Nat. Ed. XVIII, 304.
LEAGUE FOR PEACE—POSSIBILITY OF. The
only alternative to war, that is to hell, is the adoption of
some plan substantially like that which I herein
advocate and which has itself been called utopian. It is
possible that it
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