What you can learn from the Presidents

One of the great things about having kids is that you go back to school every once in a while. Not only do you go back physically during parent teachers conferences and wonder how you ever drank out of those little fountains.

I used to really enjoy history class in school, but somehow got out of the habit of paying attention to it as hit more tennis balls. Dumb I know. As a student of history you better understand why things happen today, let alone understand the human condition. My avoidance of history happened over time because my priorities changed over the years and of course you get into earth shattering habits like watching American Idol!

I digress.... I had the opportunity to look at a book that Phil was reading. It was pretty interesting really, since it was a book about American presidents. We haven’t had all that many, forty three I think… But, I realized that in my lifetime their have been 7, but I can only really remember 6 with clarity.

Looking at their lives from childhood to post presidency got me thinking and wondering if I would have had the same drive to overcome the obstacles some of these men and their families endured to become our Nation’s leader.

What do these names have in common?
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton

They were all President of the United States, right? They were all the most powerful man in the world at one point. However, I am looking for something else...

Richard Nixon... Nixon was born in the home his father built. He won an award from Harvard his senior year of high school. However, his family was unable to afford his leaving home for college. He instead attended Whittier College.

Gerald Ford... Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr. In 1913 his mother left her abusive husband and took her son to live with her parents. She met Gerald R. Ford, whom she married and gave her child his name Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. He was the only President to be adopted. Ford worked in his stepfather's paint and varnish store growing up. He coached boxing during college to afford his tuition.

Jimmy Carter... He was the first member of his family ever to go to college and his father was a peanut farmer.

Ronald Reagan... he was the son of an alcoholic traveling shoe salesman. He worked his way into show business by broadcasting baseball games. At forty, he was divorced and his career was at a dead end.

Bill Clinton... Born William Jefferson Blythe IV, his father ( another traveling salesmen) died in an automobile accident three months before he was born. His mother married Roger Clinton and Bill took that name. Clinton grew up in a turbulent family. His stepfather was a gambler and alcoholic who regularly abused his wife, and sometimes Clinton's half brother Roger.

None of these men were born into wealth and prosperity, yet they each achieved the rank of most powerful person in the world by working hard and not making excuses. That is 5 out of the last 7 Presidents or 71% of Presidents in the last generation born into normal families who struggled. Yet, they refused to use that as an excuse.

'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.' You have heard it a million times. However, my guess is that you have never heard it from the mouth of the 'rich'. Instead, this echo has most likely bounced to your ear with its origins being an excuse. That is right... an excuse. Excuses are what many use to pacify their guilt of not accomplishing what they are capable of.

I am not suggesting that wealth is success. My inference is that success is the progressive realization of predetermined worthwhile goals. It may be something as simple as raising a family.

I guess my point here is that life is too short to make excuses. Set your goals and pursue them. If you have been dealt a 'worse' hand than another, it may indeed be a gift that teaches you the value of hard work. Your story will be richer and your success sweeter when you achieve your dreams.

Til next time…