I recently finished to a 24 lecture course entitled “History’s Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach” by Prof. Gregory S. Aldrete of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Dr. Aldrete discussed such conflicts as the Battle of the Crater, Little Big Horn, Gallipoli, the raid on Dieppe, and Operation Market Garden, the last memorialized in the movie “A Bridge Too Far.”
Professor Aldrete identified four categories of military mistakes. Failures in planning, in leadership, in execution, and in adaptation. Obviously, many of the military blunders involved more than one of those categories.
President Trump likes to say he is a “wartime president,” fighting the battle against Covid19. Evidently bone spurs no longer present a problem for our fighting president. Unfortunately, he has managed to make all four of the mistakes Prof. Aldrete discussed:
planning The Trump administration ignored recommendations to prepare for a contagion, cutting health programs and failing to stockpile needed supplies.
leadership There wasn’t any. Thank goodness we had governors who stepped up and health experts who tried to correct his lies and errors. Trump was able to brag about his television ratings, however.
execution The federal response started off badly and never improved. Saying that the federal stockpile of supplies was for the federal government betrayed complete ignorance of the American federal system.
adaptation As the death toll increased, Trump adapted by giving daily campaign speeches and putting Jared in charge of the response.
Prof. Aldrete should develop another course entitled Great Political Blunders. He certainly has some great material with which to work.
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