Yesterday, during a town hall-style debate, Gov. Rick Snyder admitted that his policies haven’t shown positive results for Michiganders. In addition, Gov. Snyder repeated his belief that Michigan will be great in 2038. Wait, what? 2038? Like 24 years from now? That’s when things will get better?
That got me thinking. What if other politicians used a 24-year timeline to argue for success? What would that sound like?
Maybe we’d have these statements in our history books today:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. So, we’ve decided that by the year 1800, these colonies will declare our independence and then things will really be rosy.” – Declaration of Independence, 1776
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. But just wait until 1888, that’s when it will really get good around here.” – Abraham Lincoln, 1864
“The only thing we have to fear is – fear itself. I mean really, don’t fear because just wait around until 1956 and this Great Depression will be a thing of the past.” – Franklin Roosevelt, 1932
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. But let’s be clear, the time to really get excited about going to the moon will be 1986, that’s when this is all going to be lined up for success.” – John F. Kennedy, 1962
“Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL! I expect it to be gone by 2011.” – Ronald Reagan, 1987
None of these statements are accurate because leaders don’t tell people to wait 24 years for things to get better. Real leadership looks at the situation as it is today and works towards solutions that quickly move us forward.
However, Rick Snyder’s “wait 24 years approach” does remind me of one historical quote, “Let them eat cake.”
Have a better example of historical quotes ruined by a 24-year waiting period? Tweet it at us using the hashtag #waittil2038