36 7 BE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE ch.

Yet the causes were very ordinary and human.The President was not a hero or a prophet; he wasnot even a philosopher ; but a generously intentionedman, with many of the weaknesses of other humanbeings, and lacking that dominating intellectualequipment which would have been necessary to copewith the subtle and dangerous spellbinders whoma tremendous clash of forces and personalities hadbrought to the top as triumphant masters in theswift game of give and take, face to face in Council,—a game of which he had no experience at all.

We had indeed quite a wrong idea of the President.We knew him to be solitary and aloof, and believedhim very strong-willed and obstinate. We did notfigure him as a man of detail, but the clearness withwhich he had taken hold of certain main ideas would,we thought, in combination with his tenacity, enablehim to sweep through cobwebs. Besides these quali-ties he would have the objectivity, the cultivation,and the wide knowledge of the student. The greatdistinction of language which had marked his famousNotes seemed to indicate a man of lofty and powerfulimagination. His portraits indicated a fine presenceand a commanding delivery. With all this he hadattained and held with increasing authority the firstposition in a country where the arts of the politicianare not neglected. All of which, without expectingthe impossible, seemed a fine combination of qualitiesfor the matter in hand.