"I made a mistake!"  With four words, a leader can own an error, open the door to correction, and let the rest of the world breathe.

At critical points in their careers, John Kennedy, Lee Iacocca, and John Lennon faced reporters and admitted, "I made a mistake."  For most of us, admitting error is hard, but, ironically, it is also a path to healing.

After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, President John Kennedy stood before the press and said this about that failure: "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."  In his self-deprecating way, Kennedy admitted his error.  Critics remained after this event, but many gave the new president grace because admitting error restores reality.  Admitting error also shows watchers that the penitent has character.  "It takes a big man to admit an error!" is a saying that frequently follows such admissions.

Image by Andrea Widburg (Kennedy; Iacocca; Lennon).

In 1987, Lee Iacocca was the chairman of the Chrysler Corporation.  The man famous for the Ford Mustang and Chrysler's minivan faced serious trouble.  Rumors abounded that Chrysler employees were disconnecting odometer cables on new cars to hide mileage from customers.  Basically, Chrysler was accused of widespread fraud.  In response, Mr. Iacocca called a news conference.  There, Mr. Iacocca summarized the rumors to the audience.  Then he took a breath and said, "It's all true."  After admitting bad behavior on Chrysler's part, he told the reporters and his customers how the car company planned to make amends.

In the TV series Downton Abbey, the patriarch of the family acknowledges, "All of us have chapters we don't want others to read."  Most of us are not well known beyond our friends and families.  The more famous a person becomes, the more attention he attracts.  The very famous attract a lot of attention.

John Lennon once gave an interview to a European journalist during the heady days of Beatlemania.  When asked about the sudden impact of newfound fame, Lennon unwisely said the Beatles were at that time more popular than Jesus.  That story did not have much impact in Europe, but when the comment reached American shores, John was reviled widely.  Initially, he was stunned by the uproar, but John Lennon did apologize and admitted his mistake.

In July 2022, America has just had two quarters of negative economic "growth" during Biden's administration.  Joe Biden, however, will not admit that our economy is in recession because snarky Joe is not big enough to admit mistakes.  Everyone else knows it, but President Joe Biden will not admit it.  Our leader is untethered to reality and reveals himself to be a small man.  Where is his honor?  Where is the honor of his handlers?  Like Hamlet's uncle, they all are unrepentant, and their country, our country, is suffering.

Ned Cosby is a regular contributor to American Thinker, is a pastor, veteran Coast Guard officer, and a retired public high school teacher.  His new novel OUTCRY is a love story exposing the refusal of Christian leaders to report and discipline clergy who sexually abuse our young people.  This work of fiction addresses crimes that are all too real.  Cosby has also written RECOLLECTIONS FROM MY FATHER'S HOUSE, tracing his own odyssey from 1954 to the present.  For more info, visit Ned Cosby.