I need your weakness

The disadvantage of moving from my mom's is that I don't really need to get everything moved at once. I can just kind of move things here and there upon my convenience and need. It has, therefore, become a very long and drawn out process. On Saturday, my mom drove up to Salt Lake with me to take up a load of stuff and as we drove we got talking about politics. I've been inspired by David McCullough's historiography on President Truman with a lot of "deep thoughts" about the state of our nation and how things have changed since Truman's days. Even in my lifetime, I've seen a lot of change as I was politically aware at a very young age. At five years old, I remember sitting at the table listening to my uncles praise Reagan. I remember, at age ten, watching my mom cry when Clinton won the election. And I don't think there was a time I saw my grandpa without hearing at least one or two comments about things in the news. (And ironically, my Grandpa Gray died on the 4th of July, just like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, which I think was a tribute to my Grandpa's love of country.) In any case, I was commenting to my mom about the circumstances that led to the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War II. Basically, that I don't believe it would have happened had FDR not passed away and Truman been sitting in his place. From the moment that Stimson educated Truman on the project, I don't believe Truman ever considered not using it. Understandably, Truman was in a tough spot as people were terrified that the death of FDR meant they would lose the war. In their eyes, Truman was a nobody before he was Vice President, and he certainly wasn't qualified to be the President, especially in a time of war. I think Truman felt incredible pressure and anxiety about the war and when Stimson showed him a sure way out, he wouldn't have not taken it. Would FDR have made the same choice? My mom followed up my thoughts with this really insightful comment:

"Sometimes people are needed for there weaknesses."

In this case, Truman's weakness was his insecurity and desperation where FDR's confidence and support may have prevented him from using the bomb. (Please note, I'm not educated on the options available beside the use of the atomic bomb. I'm not settled that it was entirely necessary. However, I guess that it was.)

I think about Abraham Lincoln. A few years ago, as I was struggling through a bout of depression, my friend, Chris, shared an article with me on Lincoln titled "Lincoln's Great Depression." The message of the article is summarized:

"Abraham Lincoln fought clinical depression all his life, and if he were alive
today, his condition would be treated as a 'character issue'-- that is, as a
political liability. His condition was indeed a character issues: it gave
him the tools to save the nation."

(For the full text, CLICK HERE.) I'm sure there are many great, insightful examples I could follow-up with of people who had great weaknesses but those weaknesses proved to be the cause of their triumph, but it's late and my head is turning off. So, I'll leave it to you to think of examples and share them.

WaHOOooo for Labor Day! I love that I don't have to work tomorrow. And, for those of you who don't know what Labor Day is all about, CLICK HERE.