A pair of new books on Senator Hillary Clinton, as described by the Washington Post, draw a portrait of a woman who is smart, shrewd and very “methodical.” Both books, one by Carl Bernstein (Her Way) and the other by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta, Jr. (A Woman in Charge), describe a woman bent on achieving her aims and very ambitious. In other words, she’s a politician. But consider what would a politician be without ambition? Someone standing on the sidelines watching others do the work!
Ambition is after all the inner drive that pushes someone to achieve. It is absolutely essential to leadership. Yet so often, as in the case of Mrs. Clinton and most other politicians, ambition is perceived as a negative. Why? Because it is how the politician channels that ambition as in putting the means to end ahead of the end. For example, Huey Long, the crusading governor of Louisiana in the Thirties, wanted to raise the standard of living in his poor state. He did improve the state’s infrastructure (roads, schools, hospitals) through public works, but he achieved his aims through ruthless means and corruption top to bottom.
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