Our Emperor’s New Clothes Moment

Ever since I started thinking about leadership, I’ve considered “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the 1837 folktale by Hans Christian Andersen, to be the ultimate leadership manual. And the pivotal moment we’re in is the perfect time to return to it.

The story centers around an emperor obsessed with fancy clothing. Two swindling tailors come to town and tell the Emperor they’ll make him a fine outfit that will be visible only to those who aren’t foolish or incompetent at their jobs. The Emperor is delighted.

As the “work” proceeds, the Emperor sends two trusted aides — who he thinks will be able to see the new clothes — to check on the tailors. Not wanting to admit incompetence, they report back that the clothes are “beautiful” and “extraordinarily magnificent.” When the time arrives, the tailors pretend to dress the Emperor in his new clothes. All those assembled marvel at how beautiful they are, and the Emperor sets off on a procession through town to show them off. Along the way, not wanting to appear foolish, everybody exclaims how “extraordinarily magnificent” the clothes are — until a child blurts out, “But he hasn't got anything on.”

That breaks the spell, and the people repeat, “But he has nothing at all on!" The Emperor, however, soldiers on. “The Emperor was upset,” the story continues, “for he knew that the people were right. However, he thought the procession must go on now! The lords of the bedchamber took greater pains than ever, to appear holding up a train, although, in reality, there was no train to hold, and the Emperor walked on in his underwear.”

We’re now at an emperor has no clothes moment, with the lords of the bedchamber — Democratic leaders and trusted aides — shielding the President from the truth. The time has come to channel our inner child and proclaim the truth, not just privately but publicly.

President Biden has been a remarkable leader in many ways, and we owe him gratitude for bringing the country out of the pandemic, righting the economy, and passing important bills on infrastructure and climate change.

But as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. told me on the eve of the 2000 election — another pivotal moment in history — “we want different things from presidents at different times.” And what we need now is for President Biden to recognize the truth: that what he might think of as a magnificent campaign is in fact barely there at all.

This is not a new problem of leadership. As Erasmus wrote in the 16th century, “Princes seem to me most unfortunate because, having no one to tell them the truth, they are forced to confuse flatterers for friends.” Those around Biden, and Democratic leaders on the Hill, are not blind to the true state of what is going on.

What they lack isn’t discernment but courage. Courage, Plato wrote, is the knowledge of what is not to be feared. And what seems to be feared most is not the fate of the country, but losing status or losing the protection of the herd. And it’s that fear that leads to them to continue pretending that Biden’s rusty suit of armor is adequate for the battle ahead.

"Above all, do not lie to yourself,” wrote Dostoevsky. “A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him."

There is no train to hold. It’s time for the spell should be broken. This procession must stop.