The perceived greatness of any political leader has more to do with the challenges faced by that leader than with any of his or her inherent skills and abilities.
Perceptions of greatness in national and political leaders are largely determined by the
seriousness of the problems that they face during their terms in office. Most national
histories principally highlight individuals in the context of significant events in which the
leaders played important roles. Most political leaders need to have large stores of inherent
skill and ability just in order to become a political leader. However, history remembers those
who lived in great times more fondly than those who did not. Examples of this are numerous
and include the histories of Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Winston Churchill—all
men who are perceived as great leaders largely because of the times in which they lived.
Abraham Lincoln is often considered the greatest of all the American Presidents. He
graces two units of the currency and has one of the largest monuments built in his honor
in Washington D.C. However, Lincoln is considered great largely because he faced a great
challenge—the civil war between the North and the South in the 1860s. Lincoln led
the United States to victory over the rebels and reunited the country and is therefore
considered great. This is not to say that Lincoln was not skilled. Many know that he was
born in a log cabin and progressed to law school and eventually to the presidency. He was
also a skilled orator. However another man, James Buchanan, also was born in a log cabin,
went to law school, gave good speeches and ascended to the presidency. However there are
no monuments to Buchanan in the capital or pictures of his face on the five-dollar bill.
Woodrow Wilson was another talented man who ascended to the presidency of the United
States. However his talents are not what make his perceived greatness. In this age, few
remember if Wilson was particularly smart, a very good speechmaker, or a good arbitrator.
Most remember that he led the United States to victory in the first World War and
therefore perceive him as great. At the time, however, Wilson was rather unpopular. In fact,
he had so little sway with Congress that he was unable to get the United States to join the
League of Nations—a fact that many claim helped lead to the second World War.
Winston Churchill was another man that history views favorably because of the incredible
challenges that he faced. However, Churchill was not very popular before the war. When
Franklin Roosevelt first met Churchill before either was the leader of his respective country,
Roosevelt wrote in his diary that Churchill was full of himself and far too talkative. Early in his term as Prime Minister, Churchill even faced a no-confidence vote in Parliament. However,
the events of World War II accorded him the perception of greatness in the eyes of history.
Many might argue that these men and other men and women were already great before
history gave them great challenges. While it is impossible to definitely disprove this
assertion and it may be true that they had great skill and ability, otherwise they would not
have been political leaders, most examples point to the fact that the times make the man
or woman. If the presidencies of Buchanan and Lincoln were switched, we would very likely
have the Buchanan memorial instead. In summary, it is true that the perceived greatness of
a political leader is more due to great challenges than great inherent ability. The historical
examples of Lincoln, Wilson, and Churchill bear this out. All were talented, but so too are all
political leaders. Only the leaders that live in eventful times are remembered as great.
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 16, column 24, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: However,
...sidency. He was also a skilled orator. However another man, James Buchanan, also was b...
^^^^^^^
Line 17, column 72, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: However,
...peeches and ascended to the presidency. However there are no monuments to Buchanan in ...
^^^^^^^
Line 20, column 9, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: However,
...o the presidency of the United States. However his talents are not what make his perce...
^^^^^^^
Line 25, column 31, Rule ID: MANY_NN[1]
Message: Possible agreement error. The noun claim seems to be countable; consider using: 'many claims'.
Suggestion: many claims
...join the League of Nations—a fact that many claim helped lead to the second World War. W...
^^^^^^^^^^
Line 31, column 1, Rule ID: MANY_NN_U[1]
Message: Possible agreement error. The noun might seems to be uncountable; consider using: 'much might', 'a good deal of might'.
Suggestion: Much might; A good deal of might
...n of greatness in the eyes of history. Many might argue that these men and other men and ...
^^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, however, if, may, second, so, therefore, while, in fact, in summary, it is true
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 31.0 19.5258426966 159% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 5.0 12.4196629213 40% => OK
Conjunction : 23.0 14.8657303371 155% => OK
Relative clauses : 21.0 11.3162921348 186% => OK
Pronoun: 50.0 33.0505617978 151% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 72.0 58.6224719101 123% => OK
Nominalization: 4.0 12.9106741573 31% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 3058.0 2235.4752809 137% => OK
No of words: 601.0 442.535393258 136% => OK
Chars per words: 5.08818635607 5.05705443957 101% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.95129289623 4.55969084622 109% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.65990122805 2.79657885939 95% => OK
Unique words: 277.0 215.323595506 129% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.460898502496 0.4932671777 93% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 941.4 704.065955056 134% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59117977528 101% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 6.24550561798 96% => OK
Article: 5.0 4.99550561798 100% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 3.10617977528 97% => OK
Conjunction: 6.0 1.77640449438 338% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 5.0 4.38483146067 114% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 31.0 20.2370786517 153% => OK
Sentence length: 19.0 23.0359550562 82% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 54.4405851851 60.3974514979 90% => OK
Chars per sentence: 98.6451612903 118.986275619 83% => OK
Words per sentence: 19.3870967742 23.4991977007 83% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.12903225806 5.21951772744 60% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 39.0 4.97078651685 785% => Less paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 5.0 7.80617977528 64% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 20.0 10.2758426966 195% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 4.0 5.13820224719 78% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.83258426966 145% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.23392020431 0.243740707755 96% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.061045521382 0.0831039109588 73% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0762669784321 0.0758088955206 101% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0574247588178 0.150359130593 38% => Maybe some paragraphs are off the topic.
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0723680959434 0.0667264976115 108% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.2 14.1392134831 86% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 52.19 48.8420337079 107% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.7 12.1743820225 88% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.24 12.1639044944 101% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.89 8.38706741573 94% => OK
difficult_words: 126.0 100.480337079 125% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 11.5 11.8971910112 97% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.6 11.2143820225 86% => OK
text_standard: 12.0 11.7820224719 102% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Maximum six paragraphs wanted.
Rates: 50.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 3.0 Out of 6
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.