QUOTE : Presidents may do many things, but they do not have the luxury of complaining, or blaming others, or eluding responsibility, no matter how terrifying it is in all its dimensions. Second-rate presidents may act “great” during routine times, when it is easy to do so, but it is only the truly great ones who act great during the difficult times. And where the second-rate presidents are somehow always shaped, and prodded, and manipulated by the forces of history, great ones find ways to bend those forces of history to their goals.