Happy Birthday, US Constitution

On September 17, 1787, delegates lined up to put their names on the document they had agonized over for the last four sweltering months in the Pennsylvania State House. Through it all, James Madison sat near the front of the delegates' meeting hall taking notes in his own shorthand of all the debates, discussions, and final compromises that made it into the document.
 
Three delegates refused to sign in the very end, holding out for a Bill of Rights. Others of the original 55 representatives from 12 states had drifted away or left in disgust. Rhode Island was not represented. It had refused to participate. Despite everything, with political divides as deep as any today, the remaining delegates signed and sent the new Constitution to Congress to pass on to State ratifying conventions.
 
Visualize Benjamin Franklin in his eighties, overweight and crippled with a gout attack. He asks James Wilson to read his remarks, which are addressed directly to the handful of delegates who announced they would not sign the Constitution.

I confess that I do not entirely approve this Constitution at present…[H]aving lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged…to change opinions even on important subjects…[T]he older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment and pay more respect to the judgment of others…I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the convention who may still have objections to it, would … doubt a little of his own infallibility…and put his name to this instrument.

Franklin speaks down the centuries to leaders. Although the three reluctant delegates were not swayed that day, Franklin captured a key element of great leaders. They all know they make bad decisions sometimes. They know they are fallible and question their preconceived notions.

 

As our presidential election draws near, the attack ads continue relentlessly, and candidates play fast and loose with the facts, heed Franklin's advice. Celebrate this Constitution and pay more respect to the judgment of others.

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(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, president, Advantage Leadership, Inc.

 

To find out more about this important day in U.S. history, the strategic planning and leadership of the framers, and the wisdom of today's strategic leaders, read Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers. (This link takes you to a special page for a special offer not available publicly.)

 

Happy Unity Day



I sign the US Constitution

SEPTEMBER 17, 1787 -- That's the real birthday of the UNITED States! We may celebrate July 4 (1776) when we declared our independence from Great Britain but after the Revolution we were united in name only. By 1787 the States were squabbling with one another, blocking any meaningful legislation in the Congress established under the Articles of Confederation, and refusing to pay into any national fund. Each state issued its own (worthless) currency and inflation was destroying the income of farmers. That of course led to foreclosures and Captain Shays, a farmer and former army officer, mustered his fellow farmers to close down the courts and then marched on the state armory before being stopped by the Massachusetts militia. Britain, France, and Spain were plotting to pick off individual states while European creditors threatened to cut off all credit to the new country because of unpaid war debts. No, it was not a happy time. A few years after the hard-won revolution, the UN-united states faced dissolution.

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin conspired to call what we know today as the Constitutional Convention. Fifty-five delegates from 12 of the 13 states met through four hot, muggy months, from May to September, in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall.) They hammered out a new Constitution using James Madison's draft as a jumping off point. They argued, postured, debated, and speechified. They were sometimes grumpy and occasionally even rude to one another. They caucused, cajoled, and compromised. (They also partied, went on excursions, dashed home to attend to business, and complained bitterly about the hard conditions in boarding houses and lack of money to pay for food and lodging.)

In the end, 40 men signed the document on September 17, 1787. We owe them a big debt. Once the Constitution was ratified in the states and the government was established with its three branches and a bicameral legislature, the states were no longer sovereign. That's right. Many states had considered themselves sovereign prior to this. Without the unity that was established with the Constitution, the likelihood that the new nation would have survived is quite slim.

Today we many argue about the amount of authority that should rest in the states and the federal government, and the framers left it a little vague in places. The fact is we are one united nation. So September 17 should be a big celebration for each American. And maybe its OK that it hasn't become another day to skip work, watch fireworks, and barbecue. Instead, why not take a little time to read the document itself. http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html Find out what it really says. It's quite short, even with the amendments. And, maybe just thank little Jemmy Madison and the boyz for persisting in their quest for a "more perfect Union."

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(C) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., President, Advantage Leadership, Inc.

Richard Brookhiser has written an excellent profile of James Madison recently. Check it out

http://tinyurl.com/3856hym

Want to know more about the Constitutional Convention and how it functioned as a strategic planning session? Check it out: http://www.ConventionalWisdomCenter.com