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Seriously. Then took the credit afterwards...
I doubt either Major or Blair would have done any differently, not sure about Brown and Cameron.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I wonder if it relates this story which I believe to be about Attlee, which says a lot about him, but even more about how different & probably more difficult times are now.
Apparently Attlee enjoyed cricket & on some occasion, while he was PM, he was at Lord's cricket ground. He got into a conversation with someone & either asked what their occupation was, or they told him, & the other person then asked Attlee "And what do you do?" I imagine his reply was self effacing & he didn't seize the opportunity to humiliate the other person.
I'm sure the book relates how Harold Laski & some others I can't name, didn't think he was "socialist" enough & tried to oust him. Just before he was elected PM (I think).
I wonder what sort of job they'd have made of things... Especially, after having behaved like that. This brings to mind some more recent political figures, right & left.
I agree, from what little I know of him, that Gorbachev was a formidable leader & his achievement would probably have seemed even more impressive if The West had been more helpful to the former USSR while it was in flux.
Probably important to remember that there were some incredible people behind great leaders (some of Attlee's cabinet have been mentioned). I'd imagine there were some people like that behind Gorbachev who had the imagination to see through what must have looked like a catastrophe for their system & the ability to guide events as best they could, most of us will never know who they were.
Regarding leadership & power in general, I imagine most will disagree, but I have a profound distrust of charisma, it's hugely overrated & has to be accompanied by much more important human qualities in powerful people. Chiefly, human decency & a sense or responsibility, which Attlee seems to have had as core values.
You can utterly disagree with his stance and methods but when it comes to standing up for the people he represented, the late Bob Crow was superb. Even the Telegraph, not a newspaper noted for pro-union tendencies, agreed in 2014.