Traits of Adolf Hitler
Essay written by offramp720@hotmail.com
“He Failed as a student in classical secondary schools, a situation that
contributed to his desire to become an artist. He went to Vienna in
1903. His years there were characterized by melancholy, aimlessness,
and racial hatred,”stated by Alan Bullock (Allen Bullock 1962, 97). This
does not sound like the life of a the future leader of Germany. But
what Adolf Hitler lost in scholastics he made up for it and then some
in leadership skills. Hitler, having great leadership skills, showed that
leadership skills can be more important than brain power.
A good education was something that Adolf Hitler did not have. He
dropped out of school at the age of sixteen, spending only 10 years in
school. Sadly, he didn’t even get into a art academy, even though it
was his goal in life to become an artist. Arthur Schlesinger says that
“However in his last year of school he failed German and Mathematics,
and only succeeded in Gym and Drawing. He drooped out of school at
the age of 16, spending a total of 10 years in school,”(Arthur M.
Schlesinger 1985, 14) Even though he didn’t have a normal amount of
education, he still became the leader of Germany.
Adolf Hitler, nevertheless, was a great orator and when he spoke,
everybody listened. He sometimes spoke several times a day, moving
from town to town seemingly tireless. Ken McVay had this to say
about this subject, “He was a tireless speaker and before he came to
power would sometimes give as many as three or four speeches on
the same day, often in different cites. Even his opponents concede
that he is the greatest orator that Germany has ever
known,”[sic](Ken McVay 1995, (Internet)). Though he didn’t have a
good education his orator skill, which is a leadership skill, helped him
achieve his goal.
Along with being a tireless orator, Hitler also possessed the quality to
make everybody listen to him, a quality that most, not including Mr.
Marcero, saline high school teachers could use. He would get the
audience by telling them what they wanted to hear, then he would
manipulate the people to arose their emotions. “His power and
Fascination in speaking lay almost wholly in his ability to sense what
the given audience wanted to hear and then to manipulate his theme
in such a way that he would arouse the emotions of the
crowd,”(Strasser 1993, (Internet)). The ability to be an emotional
driving speaker is a leadership skill that most desire, but few have.
Adolf Hitler also was a very modest and simple man. He would never
let anything go to his head, or get anything luxurious. For leaders of
this caliber, this would be the hardest trait to possess. When
someone accomplishes something, for most people, it goes to their
head and they tend to flaunt it. When people have the opportunity to
buy a luxury people usually take it without a second thought. But
Hitler was different states Ken Mcvay, “Another trait which has
received a great deal of comment in the propaganda build-up is
Hitler’s modesty and simplicity. His successes have never gone to his
head. At bottom he is still the simple soul he was when he founded
the party and his greatest Joy is to be considered one of the
boys,”(Ken McVay 1995, (Internet)). To be a great leader it is
important to be somewhat simple and not to think a lot about your
own well-being, or to flaunt what you have accomplished.
Another one of Hitler’s traits was he had an incredible amount of
endurance. He would work eighteen hour days for Germany; most
people work eighteen hour weeks! To work eighteen hour days and no
pleasure would be impossible for almost everybody. Ken McVay seems
to agree with my assumption when he states, “Hitler was also a man
of incredible energy and endurance. His day consists of Sixteen and
eighteen hours of uninterrupted work. He is absolutely tireless when it
comes to working for Germany and its future welfare and no personal
pleasure are permitted to interfere with the carrying out of his
mission. The ordinary man in the street cannot even imagine a human
being in Hitler’s position not taking advantage of his opportunity. He
can only imagine himself in the same position reveling in luxuries and
yet here is Hitler who scorns them all. His only conclusions is that
Hitler is not an ordinary mortal,”(Ken McVay 1995, (Internet)) To be a
strong leader one must not give up, and show dedication.
Hitler was also great at organizing, and preparing for future obstacles.
The ability to stay organized is a good quality for all, but a must for
leaders. “A great deal of publicity has also been given to his breath of
vision, ability to penetrate the future and his ability to organize both
the Party and the country in preparation for obstacles they will have
to overcome. According to the propagandists, Hitler is the soul of
efficiency infallibility and incorruptibility throughout are not only
implied but openly stated in no uncertain terms,”(Sara Salzman 1996,
30)Most leaders just handle the problems as they come, but it takes a
great leader to see up coming problems and fix them.
At the same time, Hitler was a man of steel. He never got
unnecessarily angry for a moment. For a leader to be a leader he can’t
lose his temper or people will pick up on that. Allan Bullock states
that, “Fundamentally, according to the Nazi press, Hitler is a man of
steel. He is well aware of his mission and no amount of persuasion,
coercion, sacrifices or unpleasant duties can persuade him to alter his
coarse. In the fact of all sorts of disasters and disagreeable
happenings and necessary measures, he never loses his nerve for a
moment,”(Allan Bullock 1962, 795) To be a good leader one must
understand how to not get off track, or lose his cool for a moment.
Although Hitler may not have had a great education, he did have
great leadership skills. All these things that were mentioned are
virtues of a good leader. A good speaker, modest, endurance,
organizing, preparation, not losing one’s temper, these are traits of a
good leader. These are traits of Adolf Hitler.