His family moved in 1831, and he lost his job.  In 1832, he ran for the state legislature, and he lost.  In 1833, he and a friend borrowed money and started a store; his friend died, and the store lost money and went out of business.  In 1834, he was elected to the state legislature. In 1836 and 1838 he was re-elected to the state legislature.  In 1838 he was defeated in his attempt to become the speaker of the state legislature.  In 1840 and 1842 he was re-elected to the state legislature.  In 1843 he was defeated in his effort to become his party’s nominee for the United States House of Representatives.  In 1846 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.  In 1848 he failed in his effort for re-election to the House.  In 1849, he failed in his attempt to be appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, DC.  In 1855 was defeated in his attempt to get his party’s nomination for the United States Senate.  In 1856 he was defeated in his attempt to win his party’s nomination for Vice President of the United States.  In 1858 he was defeated again in a run for the United States Senate.  In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. Read more…

IRIf I were the CEO of a company and was employed six years ago to clean up the problems attributed to my predecessor, how would the Board of Directors react if the company was still having problems and I was blaming my predecessor for them?  Would the directors say, “Oh, yes, the problems were so great that we could not expect you to have fixed them in six years”?  Or would they say, “We hired you to fix things, and you should have had them fixed by now or at least be well on your way to having them resolved”?  

With the companies I am acquainted with, the board and the stockholders would not put up with a CEO who was blaming his predecessor of six years ago for the continued loss of money and the value of the stock still going down.

It bothers me that President Obama and his administration so frequently blame others for problems and the bad news coverage that go along with them.  For example, Read more…