[Vision2020] Paul Kimmell and the Leadership Principles of RobertE. Lee

Wed Sep 1 22:33:36 PDT 2004

Coward! Stand up and show yourself or don't be here. It isn't worth our time.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tom Hansen 
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 6:07 AM
  Subject: [Vision2020] Paul Kimmell and the Leadership Principles of RobertE. Lee

  Greetings Visionaires -

  The following was provided to me by an unknown source who desires to remain nameless (and so it shall be), requesting that I post it here.  Although the source is nameless, I feel that it reflects the heart-felt opinion of an ever-growing portion of the Moscow citizenry.

  --------------------------------------------------------------

  On August 5th, Moscow Chamber of Commerce Executive Director presented a Power Point lecture on the Leadership Principles of Robert E. Lee.

  Mr. Kimmell's text, which does not cite an author, is drawn largely from Robert E. Lee on Leadership : Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision by H.W. Crocker III. Prima Publishing.  

  Favorable reviews from Casper Weinberger, Dinesh D'Sousza and S. Partrick Presley blurb the back cover of this book.  

  Mr. Crocker is a "longtime student of Robert E. Lee, is the executive editor of Regnery Publishing Inc.  He serves on the board of the Southern Military Institute, writes a column on Civil War books for Southern Partisan magazine, and has written on  military history for National Review, American Spectator, and other publications" according to the back cover.

  (Regnery Publishing is a conservative publishing house carrying such authors as Ann Coulter, Patrick J. Buchanan, Dinesh D'Souza, General Joshiah Bunting, well, you get the picture.  Southern Partisan Magazine is a notorious neo-Confederate magazine (http://www.fair.org/press-releases/southern-partisan.html)

  (The Southern Military Institute - a yet to be formed college - http://www.south-mil-inst.org/html/about_us.html)

  "In the tradition of the original "Institute," SMI will be a small engineering and science institution emphasizing the foundations of Christian faith and morality. It will also provide a sound background in the history of Western Civilization, American politics, Constitutional studies, and military history. SMI will be steeped in southern tradition and will re-establish the all-male Corps of Cadets, the Gentleman's Honour System, the "Brother-Rat" Class System, and the traditional "Ratline" basic training system. SMI will sponsor programs that advance the knowledge and awareness of Southern history and culture including the honouring of Confederate Memorial Day and New Market Day, which celebrates the valor of the VMI cadets at the Battle of New Market, Virginia on the 15th of May, 1864"

  The gratuitous inclusion of photographs of Confederate Generals Jeb Stuart and Stonewall Jackson don't really have much to do with Robert E. Lee's leadership.  I am unclear why they are included in the presentation - except to bolster the Confederate image.  

  From Crockers book:

  "Robert E. Lee was a leader for the ages. The man heralded by Winston Churchill as "one of the noblest Americans who ever lived" inspired an out-manned, out-gunned army to achieve greatness on the battlefield. He was a brilliant strategist and a man of unyielding courage who, in the face of insurmountable odds, nearly changed forever the course of history. 

  "A masterpiece-the best work of its kind I have ever read. Crocker's Lee is a Lee for all leaders to study; and to work, quite deliberately, to emulate." - Major General Josiah Bunting III, superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute  [which as nearly as I can tell from the VMI website exists only on paper]

  In this remarkable book, you'll learn the keys to Lee's greatness as a man and a leader. You'll find a general whose standards for personal excellence was second to none, whose leadership was founded on the highest moral principles, and whose character was made of steel. You'll see how he remade a rag-tag bunch of men into one of the most impressive fighting forces history has ever known. You'll also discover other sides of Lee-the businessman who inherited the debt-ridden Arlington plantation and streamlined its operations, the teacher who took a backwater college and made it into a prestigious university, and the motivator who inspired those he led to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. Each chapter concludes with the extraordinary lessons learned, which can be applied not only to your professional life, but also to your private life as well. 

  Today's business world requires leaders of uncommon excellence who can overcome the cold brutality of constant change. Robert E. Lee was such a leader. He triumphed over challenges people in business face every day. Guided by his magnificent example, so can you."

  Visionaries should be prepared for the usual defense of race based slavery (the page number is the page number of Mr. Kimmell's presentation)

  Duty, he [Lee] believed in, yes.  But duty directed one to serve people, not principles.  Lee's attachment to what was tangible and real - the soil of Virginia, to his family, friends, and neighbors of the Old Dominion, helps explain his loyalty to the South in the War Between the States.  Lee would not consent to raising a sword - or having other raise a sword - against his own people..... slaver owner were to be made free:, as Lee had hoped they would be, "that process should be achieved through oral persuasion, free legal advice - not by force." page 14 (emphasis in the original)

  Leaving aside the silliness connected with free legal advice for slaves, leaving aside the powerful word "IF" in describing potential emancipation this is the same old clap trap that comes from all apologist of the Lost Cause mythology, and causes pictures of Robert E. Lee to hang in classroom(s) in Logos School. 

  Read this presentation and weep that such an example is being used in this community with the support of the executive board members of the Chamber of Commerce (http://www.tomandrodna.com/notonthepalouse/Kimmell)

  Take care,

  Tom Hansen

  Not On The Palouse (Or Monroe, Louisiana), Not Ever

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