| February 26, 2008 |
Vol 9, Issue 7
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 Get Ready to Lead!
"It's simple. We're just changing the world."
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Introducing the man who brought us Ronald Reagan
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Greetings!... Welcome to another edition of the Get Ready to Lead newsletter! Last week I shared the story of the unknown mentor of Charles Spurgeon, the famous preacher from the last half of the nineteenth century.
This week I wanted to tell you the story of Lemuel Boulware, whose careful mentoring catapulted Ronald Reagan into the presidency. It's a fascinating story, and a wonderful reminder that great leaders are mentored, coached and discipled by everyday people! | |
How an everyday leader mentored Ronald Reagan
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 In his book on the education of Ronald Reagan, Thomas W. Evans tells the fascinating story of Lemuel Ricketts Boulware, the man who oversaw Ronald Reagan's conversion to conservatism and helped him build the nationwide foundation for his eventual run for president.
Reagan's movie career was waning when he took the job as host of the General Electric Theater on television. His contract called for him to host the program and also spend 25% of his time speaking at the 139 GE plants in forty states.
When Reagan took the job in 1954, Evans says, he was a Democrat and self-described "New Dealer to the core" who helped to organize California's "Labor for Truman" movement. By 1964, however, Reagan was a diehard conservative who supported Barry Goldwater for president and delivered his famous "Time for Choosing" speech, which is one of the most famous political speeches in American history. It paved the way for Reagan's California gubernatorial campaign, and ultimately became the framework for the positions he espoused running for president.
What happened in those ten years that explains this dramatic conversion? Evans says that it resulted from the influence of Lemuel Boulware, GE's vice president for labor, public and community relations. It was Boulware's conviction that the activities of the unions were hurting the economic interests of their members.
As Evans explains, Boulware believed that education was the key: "every citizen had to go back to school on economics individually ... to learn from simple text books ... to study until we understand" our democracy and our free market system.
He developed a weekly magazine with articles on the issues of the day, which Reagan read faithfully. He also developed a book club for employees, in which they would discuss books like Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt or How You Really Earn Your Living by Lewis Haney.
As Evans explains:
Ronald Reagan developed a vision of America during his GE years. He learned to reduce his views to a few simple precepts and, as he entered politics, he went over the heads of party leaders, using the banquet circuit and television to present his powerful message...
His methods of absorbing massive amounts of material, of writing and delivering his speeches, were unique. Perhaps the most persuasive statements confirming his education during his General Electric years come from the Reagans themselves. In her autobiography, Nancy Reagan wrote that "If you believe, as Ronnie does, that everything happens for a purpose, then certainly there was a hidden purpose in Ronnie's job for General Electric."
Reagan referred to his GE years as his "post-graduate education in political science" and observed that "it wasn't a bad apprenticeship for someone who'd someday enter public life."
Boulware's influence on Reagan became clear in the message Reagan developed throughout his political career: the markets should be free, communism should be opposed, and the people of America, working together, could restore their country to its former greatness.
In addition to helping to develop his political views, the fact that Boulware sent Reagan all over the country helped him develop a strong level of grassroots support that eventually became his campaign base for president.
You've probably never heard of Lemuel Ricketts Boulware, but it was his investment in the life of Ronald Reagan that led to a new wave of conservatism, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the death of communism in Europe. Who says that everyday leaders can't make a difference?
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Seven ways to begin sharing your convictions with a next generation leader
|  May I tell you about a personal experience that might make the way clearer for you?- I've had an experience that might shed some light on your current situation, and I'd be happy to share it if you're interested.
- I know of another way that might work. Would you like to hear it?
- What are your greatest hope and greatest concern?
- May I tell you about a personal experience that might make the way clearer for you?
- Please listen very carefully for a moment. I have something I'd like to tell you that could have a big influence on your life.
- So much depends on what I'm about to share with you. Please give me your full attention.
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 From Jeff Myers: Make it a Great Week!
Our next Wisdom Trek conference is now just six weeks away! We'll be meeting April 9-11 at the Sandy Cove Conference Center. It's a lovely place to get away for three days of encouragement and refreshment, and I am praying that a good sized group will be able to join me and our coaches there. Please prayerfully consider whether you should join us. If this is the right event at the right time for what God is doing in your life, I would love to see you there.
Please click here for more info.
Make it a great week,
--Jeff
Jeff Myers, Ph.D., President
Passing the Baton International, Inc.
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