A line that really resonates with me in Ruscio’s piece was “They were not perfect. The point, though, is not how we see them. What matters is that they saw themselves as imperfect.” (Page 10). After outlining a few concrete examples including Abraham Lincoln, JFK and George Washington, it is very moving to see how Ruscio explains the imperfections of these great leaders who we consider such heroes. Just because these leaders had flaws has no bearing on how we consider these leaders to be some of the most iconic leaders in history. This line also reminded me of the significance of a leader’s ‘relatibility.’ If a leader is too perfect and pristine and flawless, his or her followers could easily be intimidated by him or her and not feel a strong connection which draws the followers to follow. A leader who is humble and shows flaws is automatically more relatable to an audience and will likely have more sway over the audience’s opinions.
For example, when Ruscio mentions the Trump presidency, my first thought was that there seems to be a disconnect in this ideology when discussing Trump as a leader. He is not at all humble; he was born at the top and stayed at the top and is very aware and open about this fact, yet his supporters seem to perceive him as a man who represents the common American. Despite his disturbingly wealthy background and frequent outwardly narcissistic and ego-centric comments, poor working-class citizens are more likely to support him and his ideas than those who are wealthy and educated like he is. He technically should not be a relatable leader, but somehow is. My best guess is that though Trump does not view himself as imperfect and views those who are poorer than him as inferior to him, his supports perceive him as imperfect and relatable. It is certainly interesting to think about how Trump utilizes humility and relatibility to gather support, even if it is an act.
I also thought that the quote on page 10 was extremely moving. It is not often that we see leaders apologize and admit that they have made a mistake and then take that and learn from it. I think that Trump does not have any humility, like you were saying, and I believe that it is clear he would never admit to being wrong.
I would argue the opposite: I don’t think that Trump’s followers perceive him as imperfect. Rather, they idolize him and his views. I wonder if the allure about Trump is that he is not relatable.
I definitely agree that the idea of Trump being humble is hard to wrap my mind around. The point from the reading about it being more important for leaders to see their flaws is very powerful. I think if Trump even pretended to understand or care about the gravity of some of his statements, then talking about him would be a lot less polarizing. I wish I could understand how people view him as having any humility.