"The higher the ape climbs, the more he shows of his arse."
— 16th century proverb
"He was universally seen as capable of ruling, had he never ruled."
— Tacitus
The evaluation of General Westmoreland as commander of the 101st Airborne Division was overwhelmingly positive. At that time not only did he think he was a great general, but the soldiers thought so too. And he was genuinely interested in the well-being of his soldiers [...] Jim Schlesinger told me once—the former Secretary of Defense—that he had had a conversation about General Westmoreland and his tenure at the 101st with Vernon Walters, another very well-known general. And he said, "What do you think, Westie peaked at major general?" and Walters said, "Well, colonel." So their views differ on this, but I do think it would be mean-spirited to say that his tenure in command of the 101st was less than outstanding. And I say in the book that that was probably the level at which the range of responsibilities, the intellectual requirements of the job, the high degree of physical activity, the close contact with the soldiers, were still well within his capacity, and only that when he was elevated to more complex situations and circumstances did his flaws become more apparent. [...] I believe it's fair to say that had General Westmoreland retired after command of the 101st Airborne Division, he would have been viewed as one of our fine soldiers, and his reputation would have remained that. It's just too bad that he was elevated to other levels. And as I said in my closing, had that not been the result to such a great degree of his own self-promotion, a lot more sympathy would have followed him I think than has been the case.
— Dr. Lewis Sorley, answering a question after his lecture "Westmoreland: The General who Lost Vietnam
", part of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center's "Perspectives in Military History" lecture series.
", part of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center's "Perspectives in Military History" lecture series."All the skills that have helped Johnson to become prime minister will not paper over all of the deficits that are going to make him terrible at that job."
"Some people are better at being Number Twos."
— Silvio Dante, The Sopranos
Ralph: I mean, if you're so talented, why are you still here?
Harvey: And what about you? 15 years, we've still haven't had any promotion.
Osbourne: Well, they say that everybody rises until they reach a position in which they're completely useless.
Harvey: I see you've reached yours.
— Fiddler's Three, "Secret File"
