Leopold II Quotes
Nothing is so great and clear a proof of unfitness for greater and nobler actions, than a mind which is seriously occupied with trifles.
Leopold II, 1835-1909, King of Belgium, Uncle & Long Term Advisor to Queen Victoria of England, Letter to Queen Victoria of England, May 21, 1833
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Harding was certainly ordinary, but he was not, in the opinion of most historians, a very good president.
He was executed for rebellion at age 29. However, a number of his followers went on to leadership positions in the reforms that followed.
This is the classic political problem. It is much easier to determine what is wrong, but much harder to put it right. Politicians who harp on problems vigorously seem to escape the obligation of doing something about the problems.
The George W. Bush administration, violated the Civil Service Law and the traditions of the Justice Department by making hiring and assignment decisions on the basis of political ideology and participation. Making the situation worse, the political people who were put in senior positions of authority were often not very well qualified and far less so than the people they ended up supervising and outranking. The inspector general of the Justice Department, after being stonewalled, finally uncovered the mess and Monica Goodling, one of the worst offenders, was barred from ever working for the Justice Department again.
Henry, who most people remember for his 5 wives, was actually a very learned man, who wrote prose, poetry and music. He actually brought non-English learned men to his court if they had intellectual or cultural views. In addition, he was an excellent athlete and brought active sports to England.
Cleopatra was not just a woman ruling between male dynasties, but a brilliant and able politician, tactician, and military leader. She was descended from Alexander the Great’s Macedonian General Ptolomy who inherited Egypt upon Alexander’s death. By all accounts she was an amazing leader irrespective of gender. But she also used her sexuality very powerfully. Her language skill was remarkable; she was actually the first of the line of Ptolemy rulers of Egypt who actually spoke and read Egyptian. Of course she was also fluent in Greek and Latin as well as all the “Barbarian” languages.
Not all kings were uncaring aristocrats and a few were excellent, compassionate, rulers. Most were not however.
Most historians agree with Harding that he was not qualified for the job. And he personally did not have any great ambition to be president. He was a very affable man who spent much of his time drinking, playing cards, and having women entertain with his political buddies. His wife however, was a very accomplished and powerful newspaper publisher and she insisted that he run and he won. He continued his entertainment with his cronies and was a very weak president.
