Leadership Under Fire

ADAM SMITH was a Scottish philosopher who developed a theory of government that would promote his free market capitalistic ideas. This system, if followed carefully would create the wealthiest and most successful country ever. His book called The Wealth of Nations, which described his proposed system, was published in 1776. Our founding fathers read and studied his writings over the next ten to twelve years, melded it with our Declaration of Independence and produced our constitution. Alexander Hamilton, perhaps our most intelligent founding father, spent most of his years as Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington developing and implementing policies that would facilitate and promote Smith's ideas. Over the next 125 years our country closely followed Smith's teachings and we did become the richest most powerful country the world had ever seen. This treatise examines the lives of the presidents, giving insight into what in their formative years helped shape their philosophy of leadership. It also addresses how well they followed Smith's teachings while in office. Since 1913, we have had four significant turns away from Smith's guidance, which have cost us much blood and treasure. The last turn began in 1988, and we are still dealing with its ill effects.