Here’s a quick history quiz for you: What was Franklin Roosevelt’s immediate reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor?
You likely think it was the famous “Date which will live in infamy” speech. But that address to a joint session of Congress was made on December 8th, 1941–and the night of December 8th–so more than 24-hours after the attack ended. The closest thing I can find to an “immediate reaction” from the President on December 7th is an account from historian Doris Kerns Goodwin in her biography of Eleanor Roosevelt where the First Lady decribes FDR’s “quiet calm”–while knowing that he was “seething inside”.
Likewise, we don’t know the initial reactions of James Madison to the British army showing up to burn down the White House, or Abraham Lincoln’s first words after learning of the bombing of Fort Sumter. And that is because for hundreds of years, our leaders provided measured, informed reactions to major events–even that meant waiting hours or days to make public proclamations. You may recall the criticism heaped on George W Bush for sitting in a Florida classroom for 20-minutes after being informed of the second plane crash at the World Trade Center–and then saying simply that he had to leave–instead of issuing some sort of statement immediately after the aide got done whispering in his ear.
Compare that to the way politicians react to major incidents today. Within minutes, they feel compelled to jump onto social media to denounce whatever just happened–and to affix blame upon those they believe are responsible (or hope are responsible). A perfect example of that took place last week when police in Albuquerque announced that four Muslim men had been killed in a string of murders this month. The Twitter account for President Joe Biden posted shortly after that announcement that the President was “angered and saddened”, that the “Administration stands strongly with the Muslim community”, and “These hateful attacks have no place in America”. (You will note that I intentionally said the “account for the President”–as I highly doubt Joe himself is typing anything into the “Twitter machine”.)
As you might expect, this post was followed by thousands of comments thanking the President for denouncing “white supremacy” and blaming Republicans for the “Islamophobia that is fueling these murders”. And that all appeared to be a fine condemnation until a few days later when a Muslim man was arrested in connection with the four murders. It turns out that Muhammad Sayed is a Suni Muslim–and his daughter married a Shiite Muslim man against his wishes. In retaliation, Sayed allegedly killed four other Shiite men. This is not Sayed’s first run-in with law enforcement. There were complaints filed against him for attacking his wife when she took driving lessons, for slashing the tires of another woman that had driven to his mosque (which has banned him for bad behavior toward fellow worshippers), and attacking and threatening to kill his daughter’s husband to be.
The White House has not taken down the original tweet–choosing to spin it as the President’s opposition to “all forms of hate”. But those who do not support him are now having a field day attacking not only Biden but everyone that responded with claims that “white supremacy” or “nationalism” was to blame for these shootings. And the flames of divide and hatred are fanned all over again. All of which could have been avoided by simply waiting for the case to play out–and specifically denouncing the actions and motivations that are based upon the facts.
And that will continue to be the pattern until politicians (and their communications “specialists”) come to the realization that fiery “hot takes” and “immediate condemnation of somebody” is not quality leadership. Taking time to understand what just happened, why it happened, and who actually did it shows maturity, poise, and sense of purpose. I’ll grant you, the guy before this guy possessed absolutely none of those qualities–but that doesn’t mean every guy after him has to be the same way.
