What Our presidential candidates can learn from Elmo Zumwalt

Next month, the remarkable legacy of United States Navy reformer Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. will be honored when the Navy commissions the USS ZUMWALT (DDG 1000), a guided missile destroyer and the first ship to be named for the late admiral who bucked conventional wisdom to modernize the Navy.

The ship will be commissioned in Baltimore on Oct. 15 and then homeported at Naval Base San Diego. A veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam and a humanitarian in retirement, Zumwalt (1920-2000) was bold, innovative and caring. He is remembered for his efforts to reduce racism and sexism in the Navy and his lasting commitment to enlisted personnel and minority sailors.

{mosads}This is the stuff of a real leader. Be a human being, but be a strong one. Accomplish your mission and get things done despite challenges and pushback from superiors. Be decisive. Do the right thing.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, take note and learn from this distinguished leader: actions speak louder than campaign promises.

In my latest book on leadership, Truth, Trust + Tenacity: How Ordinary People Become Extraordinary Leaders, I discussed lessons in leadership from the military how courage is one trait that must be embodied in servicemen and women in leadership positions. Zumwalt, the youngest person to serve as chief of Naval Operations, faced a multitude of problems internal to the Navy as well as criticism from the press and Washington pundits. He battled jealously from other military leaders and numerous navy chief petty officers who resisted his reform efforts. But he courageously stood his ground and pressed forward.

Zumwalt’s steadfast, humanistic form of leadership is desperately needed today – and not just in the military. We need a national leader who will lift people up and help Americans who have no voice: blue-collar workers of all colors, the middle class, neglected veterans, and the urban poor. Trump and Clinton – one a billionaire, the other a multi-millionaire – have yet to propose detailed initiatives that would help these groups in a tangible way. We’re hearing a lot of campaign promises, but few details.

Back to Zumwalt. He would have made a great political leader today. In fact, he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1976 as a Democrat from Virginia but lost to the incumbent.

It’s too bad. Zumwalt undoubtedly would have carried his talents from military life to civilian life. Many of his achievements in the Navy had little to do with fighting or war. He treated the lowest ranking sailors with dignity and respect. He made people want to re-enlist. Through his progressive directives, known as “Z-grams,” Zumwalt tried to humanize the Navy and make life better for minorities, Navy wives, women sailors and junior officers. He issued directives to establish ROTC programs at predominantly black colleges, boost black enrollment at the Naval Academy, and end sexist and racist policies. He created a Minority Affairs Office and loosened up the dress code. White sailors respected and trusted him, too.

Zumwalt was also a selfless and successful leader in retirement. He helped numerous charities, advocated for those exposed to Agent Orange and founded the national bone marrow registry which seeks to match bone marrow donors and recipients. In awarding Zumwalt the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, President Bill Clinton called Zumwalt, “One of the greatest models of integrity and leadership and genuine humanity our nation has ever produced.”

That humanity manifested itself in many of Zumwalt’s actions that helped individuals. During a meeting several years ago with 1,000 sailors in San Diego, a black cook named Clarence Burris shared with Zumwalt that his wife had just died from cancer and his three daughters now needed him. Burris pleaded for a shore assignment since his ship was about to sail. Zumwalt immediately ordered a change of assignment for the cook. As Zumwalt stood up from the stage, the sailors rose and cheered. A petty officer blocked the admiral’s path and said, “Thank you Admiral, for treating us like people.”

Ritch K. Eich, Ph.D, Captain, US Naval Reserve (ret), had several tours in the Pentagon and served on Congressional committees for Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Dan Coats (R-Ind.). He is the author of three published books on leadership and is president of Eich Associated, a California consulting firm.

The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.