Ch.1 Post

Thesis- The author is saying that there is more to leadership than just leading people. A leader needs to have good character and have morals. "This book argues that truth telling, empowerment, and altruism in politcis are not only desirable, but practical and achievable in history (p21)."

The author looks to Aristotle for his beliefs on leaders. He feels that leaders need a deep understanding of everything and should base their policies on practice. Hargrove also includes information on other political figures that arent presidents; he talks about political figures in Shakespeare's plays. Hargove writes about Machievelli's beliefs on republics.

We agree with many of the authors points; especially that a leader needs to have morals and needs to bring practice into policies rather than just making up policies that may not work. We also agree that, "a good man is not necessarily a good polician...must combine elements of craft and moral purpose in his character as well as his work" (2).