News-Record.com

As I write this, I don't know which party will control Congress for the next two years. The outcome of Tuesday's voting determines who steps into leadership positions and, to a great extent, how much power President Bush will have to govern during the rest of his term.

I expect changes in Washington and maybe in Raleigh.

The timing made McCullough's discussion of leadership more relevant to me and probably to others in the large audience Thursday at War Memorial Auditorium.

McCullough is the nation's foremost author of history, noted for his bestselling biographies of Harry Truman and John Adams.

He's not as celebrated for his sense of humor but should be after recounting a question posed to him by a college student in California: "Besides Harry Truman and John Adams, how many presidents have you interviewed?"

The anecdote underscored his point that young people have trouble putting the past into the right perspective.

McCullough's most recent success was "1776," and most of his talk was drawn from its pages. The central figure of any Revolutionary War narrative, of course, is George Washington.

The commander in chief of the Continental Army was not an intellectual like Adams or Thomas Jefferson, not an orator like Patrick Henry, not a military genius, McCullough said.

"He was no Napoleon. What he was was a leader."

He had an eye for talent. He promoted two young men to critical positions -- 25-year-old Henry Knox of Massachusetts and 33-year-old Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island -- even though he distrusted New Englanders, and neither had military experience. They turned out to be the only general officers, with Washington, who served throughout the entire war.

If only today's political commanders would place people in key jobs on the strength of their abilities rather than their connections, seniority or social status.

Washington made mistakes on the battlefield -- lots of them, some almost fatal -- but learned from failure, McCullough said. He didn't allow himself to be defeated by setbacks or disappointments. He never gave up.

Washington was so committed to his cause that, through eight-and-a-half years of war, he went home to Mount Vernon only once and stayed but a single night, when his army was marching to Yorktown.

Washington and other leaders of his time were guided by a sense of honor. They were students of history and knew their actions would be judged after they were gone. A popular quotation was English poet Alexander Pope's, "Act well your part, there all the honour lies."

Another came from the contemporary play, "Cato" by Joseph Addison, which Washington saw several times: "We can't guarantee success, we can do something better, we can deserve it."

"Think how different that is from our time," McCullough said.

The Continental Congress appointed Washington to his post, not for his military experience, but for his character. The delegates trusted him with power because they knew he wouldn't abuse it.

Their faith in him was well placed. At the end of the war, he stepped back from power -- as he would do years later after two terms as president. In that office, he carefully limited his own authority.

"He was loyal to the principles that the revolution was about," McCullough said.

American leaders of every generation, this one included, should heed the lessons of Washington and other founders. They should put principle before power and service to country before self-interest.

Presidents and congressional leaders listen too much to political advisers. They ought to be consulting historians.