Zbigniew Brzezinski Quotes
Being a former first lady doesn't prepare you to be president.
Brzezinski, Zbigniew. Interview by Charlie Rose. The Charlie Rose Show, PBS, 14 Dec. 2007.
For the first time a woman was running for the presidency and she had a large following. However, there were still many who saw women as too emotional to be in leadership positions. Sarkozy did not want to anger many egalitarian French voters by appearing to be a sexist and attack a woman’s generic ability to lead. However, he cleverly waited for a moment in the debate where his opponent was particularly passionate about something. He gently chided her about it and she took the bait and very passionately and excitedly said that she had a right and obligation to be passionate about issues that affected millions of French lives. But as she did so she grew ever more passionate and forceful. Then Sarkozy struck with this quotation. The impression that the audience was left with is that Royal was a good woman who was properly concerned with issues but was just not ready for such a high position and did not quite have the demeanor that was needed for the Presidency. Sorkozy won the election the following week.
He had asked Acheson to be Secretary of State and Acheson told the President that he did not feel qualified to do the job. Acheson then accepted.
Ironically, according to Plato and other political philosophers, one of the important qualifications for a leader is that he doesn’t believe that he is ready at the moment. In that sense Christie burnished his star. However, few politicians ever express any public doubt regarding their experience and qualifications.
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981. As a scholar, Brzezinski belonged to the realist school of international relations, standing in the geopolitical tradition of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas J. Spykman. Brzezinski was the primary organizer of The Trilateral Commission.
