Back in the 1930’s my grandfather became involved in a rescue attempt for the warden of the state prison. Two tough thugs, lifers, and a younger inmate managed to take the Warden as a hostage in his own office. They demanded a car and to be allowed to escape with the Warden.

This drama attracted the attention of both the news media and the Governor. My grandfather proposed a plan to the Governor. “See this? It’s a Thompson Submachinegun. We will surround the office, give a certain signal, and open fire. The Warden is trained and will know to hit the floor. We’ll kill the three inmates and most likely get him out alive.”

But this was too harsh a plan for the Governor. The Warden might be killed and one of the inmates was not a hardened criminal. He turned down the plan.

Eventually, the inmates killed the Warden. The Thompsons then opened up. All four men ended up dead.

You said it: Decisiveness.

During the Reagan Administration, the President was visiting a bakery in the Midwest when they took him aside and advised him that that they had identified that terrorists who had hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro and killed a wheelchair-bound American were about to board an airliner. Assets were in place to intercept the aircraft. Did the President want to give the Go order?

There, among the pots and pans of the bakery, President Reagan though for a moment and then said “Yes.”

Apparently the men there recalled Jimmy Carter, who was plugged into the command network for the attempted rescue of the American hostages in Iran. And before that, Richard Nixon, who was known to issue orders without informing the Joint Chiefs. And before that, Johnson, who bragged that “The Air Force can’t bomb an outhouse in Vietnam without my specific permission.”

So they said “Okay Mr. President, we have to get you to a command center so that you can monitor this operation.”

Reagan replied “Hey! I can’t fly an airplane or command a ship. Why do you need me? Let me know how it comes out.”

Decisiveness, again. And Decisiveness about knowing when to keep your hands off, too.

And by the way, if you want to make your blood boil look up what happened to the Achillo Lauro hijackers we captured.