Turmoil in the Middle East
Natural and man-made disasters
Genocide
Changing relations with Cuba
Lack effective political leadership
Failures in the education system
Race relations
Equal pay for women
Caring for our wounded warriors and their families
Tensions with our NATO allies like France and Germany
Waste in government
War
If you agree that these issues need qualified, hands-on experience to solve and be delivered by a proven leader with a track record of success, then you must join me in supporting the nomination of Ms. Clara Barton for President. And frankly I am more serious than you may think.
Clara Barton was an educator early in her life and her success at bringing order to troubled classrooms, instilling a love of learning in at-risk youth and keeping her schools running well and within budget is remarkable. She did what many of us claim we want, and she did it against all odds. She was a woman and therefore unfit for the role according to society at that time. Yet, she proved herself over and over again. Clara knows education!
She was the first woman to work for the Federal Government who received equal pay to that of a male employee. She left education work because she was not paid equally nor treated with respect. But, when working in the Patent Office, she earned the respect of many and the pay due her. . She fought for the rights of Federal workers and understood the pain of losing a job to political patronage. Clara knows equal pay and job discrimination!
During the Civil War Clara personally lobbied Congress and the Army for better medical care for soldiers. She was, again, in a world generally reserved for men and yet she succeeded on gaining access to the front lines of battle. She not only delivered care on the battlefield but she collected, stored and shipped supplies to the front from multiple privately funded warehouses in Washington DC. She raised the money, got the supplies, got them to the battlefield and used them to directly care for the soldiers. How many soldier shave been bandaged by Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? Clara knows war!
During the war, Clara not only broke through the limitations of gender, she broke barriers of race. As a white woman, she cared for members of African American regiments like the 54th Massachusetts at Charleston South Carolina. To her, race was not the issue. Caring for humanity was the only thing that mattered. Clara knows race relations!
As the war ended, Clara founded the Missing Soldiers Office in Washington DC. She efficiently ran an office that received over 60,000 written requests for help, published lists of the soldiers considered missing in action, answered the letters (sometimes multiple responses to each inquiry), raised funds to pay for the workers, supplies, rent and utilities for the office and identified the fate over 20,000 missing soldiers...without the aid of a single computer!!! She brought closure to all of those families and only after the office was closed was she reimbursed by Congress for her expenses. Clara knows the plight of the families of our warriors! Clara knows how to cut waste and run and efficient organization!
After the war, Clara served as a relief working in both France and Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War. She came to learn of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). She helped civilian populations in both countries and again placed humanity at the forefront of her work. She would bring the idea of the Red Cross to the US and lobby Presidents and Congress for twenty years to get the US to sign the Geneva Conventions and join the ICRC. Clara may also have been the first woman to testify before Congress and was almost certainly the first American woman to be a part of an official diplomatic delegation when she represented the US to the ICRC. Clara knows effective political leadership!
In addition to bringing the Red Cross to the US, it was Clara who influenced the ICRC to respond to natural and man-made disasters, not just wars. When we see the Red Cross at a flood, hurricane, tornado, fire or other disaster, that is Clara reaching across time to take care of people of all colors, religions and philosophies. Can you even imagine a world where this was not a normal part of life? Clara knows disaster relief!
At the end of the century, when Clara was in her late 70's, there was a need for her services in the camps of the displaced, reconcentrados, in Cuba. She provided supplies, medicines and direct aid once again. She also went to Asia Minor and assisted the Christian Armenian populations then suffering what many consider a genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. She was able to gain permission of hostile officials to assist the very people they were persecuting. She is still revered in Armenia today. Clara knows genocide! Clara knows Cuba! Clara knows diplomacy!
Who in the current group of candidates has done more hands-one work in this many fields? Who has
seen first hand all that she has seen? Who has such international respect?
Yes, I know that Clara cannot run, but there is an important point to be made. In our world of modern technology, instant news and constant communication, sometimes we fail to look back at the leaders of the past and truly compare our current leaders to them. Clara can teach us much; she still has so much to say. So do others. Our politicians are not the only word on leadership, war, compassion, education, budgets or diplomacy. We need to step back and look at the past. Clara was not perfect, but her life and the lives of so many others, have lessons for us today. We need to heed those lessons before we go to the polls next year. Our future depends on it.
If you wish to learn more about Clara Barton, go visit the newly opened Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office in Washington DC. Museum Web Site
