The Big Man

Our family's stay in West Africa was cut short by a civil war. The war was started by Charles Taylor who led a rebellion against an admittedly corrupt Liberian regime. Charles Taylor professed that he would fix what was wrong. Instead he wreaked havoc on the country. He also made a lot of money selling what he stole and funneling blood diamonds out of neighboring Sierra Leone. Later, he was elected President of Liberia in spite of his deeds and continued to benefit himself at great price to his country. He is now in prison for crimes against humanity.

Charles Taylor was a "big man," all too common among heads of state in Africa (and elsewhere). Big men rise to power by force or treachery or peddling fear and then use the position to serve themselves. If you serve them you are rewarded. If you resist, God help you. They can be very charming. I remember hearing Charles Taylor speak and thinking that I wanted to believe this guy. Enough people did believe him to elect him.

I'm not saying Donald Trump's failures are equivalent to Charles Taylor's butchery. But his tactics and temperament are the same as those of Charles Taylor and too many other heads of state around the world and throughout history. Our first president famously refused to be convinced that he was the only one who could lead our country. Unlike Washington, the big man is always convinced of his superiority.

The big man does not apologize and does not take responsibility for his misdeeds. In most cases, he sincerely believes he has nothing to apologize for. (If what is wrong is defined by whether or not it benefits him, I suppose that makes a certain amount of twisted sense.) If something goes wrong, it is always someone else's fault. He takes all credit for what goes well and blames someone else for what doesn't.

Many of us may recognize aspects of the big man in some of our least favorite managers or supervisors, and there may be a bit of big man in nearly every politician. But never have we in America seen a candidate so blatantly full of himself and unapologetic as we do in Donald Trump, who blindly believes he is the only one who can do a job that he has done so little to prepare for.