We humans are by nature idolatrous; we crave god-like heroes. In our haste to build a pedestal for a new idol, we often appropriate achievements that were actually the work of others. Admittedly, Nelson Mandela was a truly heroic figure, but the principal achievement that the current flood of adulation attributes solely to him was primarily the result of a collaboration with Frederik Willem de Klerk. The old adage that "it takes two to make a quarrel" is nonsense; one is usually enough. But it does take two to end a quarrel. And it often requires a meeting of two minds from very different backgrounds. Consider Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. If Reagan had been dealing with Vladimir Putin, we would still be enmeshed in a cold war, if not buried in the ashes of WWIII. Instead, Reagan felt that he could win Gorbachev's trust and work with him to end the cold war. And Gorbachev responded by an astounding break from the intransigence and deviousness of the Soviet establishment. ...(Read Full Post)