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“His type is as normally average as the hot dog and pop at Coney Island. He is good looking without being handsome, quiet without being a bore, ambitious without taking either himself or his job too seriously and unassuming without being dull. Stewart’s growing appeal has sometimes been difficult to peg. He’s no Gable and certainly has none of the qualities of a Valentino. A sixteen-year-old fan seems to have hit it when she wrote to him, ‘I like you because you’re like the boy next door.”-1938 MGM biography of James Stewart

James “Jimmy” Stewart was an unlikely candidate for silver screen fame. Lacking the suave handsomeness and virility of a Cary Grant, the tough masculinity of a John Wayne, and the dark grit of a Humphrey Bogart, he was unlike anything else to come out of Hollywood at the time. Beanpole thin, with a famously slow drawl and awkward mannerisms, studios initially couldn’t imagine him as a leading man. Everyone could sense that Stewart was enormously talented, but few had a clue on how to use him. It would take directors like Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock to recognize his strengths-openness, emotional complexity, intelligence, and authenticity-and coax out some of cinema’s most unforgettable performances.

If Stewart broke the mold of the typical leading man, his behavior off the set was equally antithetical to the rest of Hollywood. Never one to be flashy, married only once, courteous to everyone he met, disciplined and professional, his life provided little grist for the town’s gossip columns. There were no shortage of people who agreed with President Truman when he said, “If Bess and I had a son, we’d want him to be just like Jimmy Stewart.”

While often remembered for his wholesome turns in movies like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stewart was an actor of tremendous emotional range, equally adept at delving into the dark corners of the human condition. Over the course of his brilliant and wide-ranging 55 year career, Stewart appeared in 80 films, several of which have become true American classics.

In following his own course on screen and in life, Stewart left behind many lessons in manliness. Here are just a few.

Forge Your Own Path and Follow Your Passion

“My earliest memories are of hardware smells. The dry aroma of coiled rope. The sweet smell of linseed oil and baseball gloves. The acid tang of open nail kegs. When I open my nose, they all come back to me.” -Jimmy Stewart

James Stewart did not come from a family with connections to Hollywood. Raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania, his father was the proud owner of the town’s hardware store. His father worked tirelessly to make the store a success, and believed that one day his son Jimmy would take over the business that had been in the family for three generations. Starting at age 10, he expected young Jimmy to come to the store after school to help out and learn the ropes.

Alexander Stewart was an Ivy League educated man who had served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I and presided over his family with manly bearing. Stewart idolized his father and wanted to fulfill his expectations and make him proud. Thus, though Jimmy wished to be a pilot and attend the Naval Academy, he acquiesced to his father’s desire that he follow in his footsteps and attend Princeton.

Upon graduation, Stewart planned to continue his education by getting a masters degree in architecture. He would then be expected to come home to Indiana, take over the hardware store, and perhaps expand into the home building business.

But after matriculating from Princeton, Stewart joined an acting company for what started as a summer stint. When Stewart made the decision to keep on acting instead of returning to school in the fall, his father was not at all pleased with the change in plans. Remembered Stewart:

“Dad was upset. My father didn’t like it at all-till the day he died he didn’t like it…he kept shaking his head, saying, ‘No Stewart has ever gone into show business!’”

Indeed, the elder Stewart never completely warmed up to the idea of his son being an actor. Even after the huge success of Jimmy’s first breakout film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Alexander called him and told him to quit the movie nonsense and come back home to get married, start a family, and help run the store. It was a plea Jimmy would hear for pretty much the rest of his life.

But Stewart didn’t go all Dead Poets Society and kill himself over this rift; he respected his father but he was his own man with his own dreams and his own life to lead. Although he was tempted to return to the quiet life of Pennsylvania throughout his whole life, his passion for acting kept him making movies into his old age.

Be Dignified with the Ladies

While we often think of the stars of yesteryear as more upright than the current crop of tabloid fodder, the Hollywood of the past was much like it is today; studios just worked harder to cover up their actors’ misbehavior and the media kept a respectful distance. While Jimmy Stewart was assuredly no saint, next to fellow actors who juggled multiple women at a time, had affairs with married women while they were single and liaisons with single women when they were married, Stewart was considered downright prudish.

Stewart had relationships with some of the most beautiful and alluring women of the time-Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Dinah Shore, and Marlene Dietrich to name a few. But he preferred to keep his relationships out of the public eye and was notoriously circumspect about the women in his life when probed by reporters.

While other stars burned through multiple marriages (Clark Gable and Cary Grant both married 5 times), Stewart held out to find the right woman to settle down with. She was hard to find in Hollywood; women threw themselves at Stewart in hopes of hitching their star to his, but he found these brash, sexually aggressive women off-putting and quickly tired of the vapid ladies he met in Tinseltown. Seeing many of the women he knew cheat on their husbands, he became extremely cautious about tying the knot. As his fortieth birthday approached, he began to despair of being a bachelor forever.

But then he met Gloria Hatrick. Athletic, smart, and funny, she was an elegant and beautiful woman who shared his love of fishing, golfing, and sailing. Stewart said:

“I could tell right off that she was a thoroughbred. For me it had been love at first sight. She was the kind of a girl I had always dreamed of. The kind you associate with open country, cooking stew and not fainting because it was made of cut-up squirrels. She’d look at home on a sailboat or a raft; in a graceful swing from a tree branch into the swimming pool.”

Stewart and Hatrick were married in 1949 and stayed married for 45 happy years. If Stewart had been something of a playboy in his single years, after his trip down the altar he became a devoted husband. Gloria remembered:

“Jimmy was working with some of the most glamorous women in the world. My constant fear I suppose was that he would find them more attractive than me and have an affair with one of them. A lot of men in Hollywood became involved with their leading ladies. Jimmy was a red-blooded American male so naturally I thought it could happen to him, too. I was convinced it was only a matter of time before the telephone would ring and it would be James telling me that he had to work late at the studio or that he would be out playing poker with the boys. Well, no such call ever came. And I can honestly say that in all the years of our marriage Jimmy never once gave me cause for anxiety or jealously. The more glamorous the leading lady he was starring opposite, the more attentive he’d be to me.”

Do Your Duty

All the generations of Jacksons on Stewart’s mother’s side of the family had served honorably in the military, going all the way back to the Revolutionary War. So when it was Jimmy’s turn to serve, he was ready to fulfill his duty. Although he had numerous opportunities to get out of service, Stewart-unlike a certain cowboy actor who usually gets many more manliness points-did everything he could to serve.

In 1940 Stewart was drafted into the military. But when he took his physical, the army rejected him; at 6′3 and 130 pounds, he was deemed too skinny for service. He could have bowed out honorably but instead he appealed the rejection and set up a second physical. He spent the next 3 months constantly gobbling up milkshakes and fried chicken wings in attempt to put on 10 pounds. When the second physical came around, he was still underweight, but he convinced the doctor to look the other way and approve him.

And so a week after winning an Oscar for The Philadelphia Story, Stewart became the first major American actor to don a uniform. He humbly transitioned from acting to peeling potatoes and gracefully accepted the drastic change in his pay-from $3,000 to $21 a week.

Stewart had a lifelong fascination with flying that started with building model airplanes as a child and progressed into getting his private and commercial pilot licenses as an adult. As an avid flyer, he decided to transfer to the Air Corps. While eager to just be one of the boys and start flying missions, Stewart grew increasingly exasperated as the other men were shipped overseas while he was left to train other pilots, make recruitment films, and be trotted out in uniform for various publicity events.

The Army, afraid that losing Stewart in combat would be a heavy blow to American morale, was intent on keeping Stewart from shipping out. But Stewart continually and persistently implored his commanding officers to put him on active duty.

Thus when Colonel Robert Terrill, Commanding Officer of the 445th Bombardment Group needed a man who would be able to lead his men into combat and get them home safely, the Army, knowing there was no more capable or qualified man for the job, finally relented.

When Stewart joined the 445th in Sioux City, he so impressed Terrill that in a matter of weeks the Colonel put him in command of the 703rd Bomb Squadron division, consisting of a dozen B-24 bombers and 350 soldiers and flyers. Once in Britain, Stewart flew missions as dangerous and harrowing as any other Airman, leading squadrons on bombing runs into Germany and occupied France. Besieged on each mission from the Luftwaffe, Stewart escape many narrow misses. Many of his fellow men were not so lucky, and Stewart watched with sickness as they fell from the sky.

For his service, Stewart received the Air Medal for flying 10 successful missions over Germany, the Distinguished Flying Cross for leading an air raid on Brunswick, and the prestigious Croix de Guerre from the French Air Force.

Stewart remained in the Air Force Reserves until forced into retirement and left the Force with the rank of Brigadier General.

Be Humble

Stewart’s dignified manner with women extended to his treatment of everyone he met and worked with. He refused to let fame give him an inflated sense of sense-worth nor deter him from his values. Although his money would have allowed him to, he never lived in an ostentatious way. While the car of choice in Hollywood was a Mercedes, when he finally hit it big he went out and bought a Volvo. He drove it for many years, and then replaced it…with another Volvo. During the energy crisis of the 1970’s, when he was in his 70’s, he refused to heat his pool for his daily dips, seeing it as an extravagance.

Stewart always sought to make his co-stars shine and respected his fellow actors immensely. Known as a consummate professional, he never had an ill word to say about a co-star, even when their antics on set had been anything but respectable. And he was always rooting for the success of others. When Stewart was up for the Best Actor Oscar in 1960 for Anatomy of a Murder, he wanted very much to win as his star had dimmed a bit after the poor reviews and box office performance of 1958’s Vertigo. Walking into the Academy Awards ceremony, he bumped into another nominee in the Best Actor category, Charlton Heston, and the two posed for pictures together. Heston recalled, ”As the flashbulbs finally petered out and we turned to go to our seats. Jimmy took my arm and said, ‘I hope you win, Chuck, I really mean that.’ I don’t know another actor alive who would’ve said such a thing. He’s an extraordinary man.”

Stewart’s humility extended to his military record as well. The public was enamored with the idea of this movie star turned Airman, and when he returned home, he could have easily used his service record as a way to garner attention for himself and promote his films. It would have certainly been tempting, as his postwar transition back into movies did not go smoothly, and industry insiders were beginning to doubt his ability to make a comeback.

But Stewart had long insisted that he was just one of the boys, no more important than any other serviceman. To this end he refused to talk to reporters about his war experiences or appear in any kind of publicity event that capitalized on his service. He also refused to act in movies that depicted combat, leading him to turn down lucrative roles in big movies like Midway and The Longest Day. As Stewart explained, “They’re just hardly ever the way it really is.”

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Boxing has always lent itself to metaphor. The idea of two men, squaring off toe to toe, battling with only their fists becomes an easy stand in for the life struggles of every man. Perhaps no boxing story has transcended the literal nature of the sport to become a grand symbol more than the story of James J. Braddock. His rise, fall, and comeback paralleled the struggle and hope of an entire nation. He was the man who rose from relief to royalty and inspired every man who was down on his luck and hoped to get back on his feet.

By 1929, James J. Braddock was an up and coming star in the sport, fighting for the light heavyweight title. But after his loss to Tommy Loughran, Braddock’s career and life took a turn for the worse. He lost 16 of his next 26 fights. From being a contender for the light heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in front of tens of thousands of fans, Braddock slipped to fighting two-bit opponents in tiny clubs with an audience in the hundreds. He was booed and jeered by the crowds and skewered in the press by acerbic writers. He then broke his only good hand-his right-and “retired” from the sport. At the same time, Braddock lost the money he invested in a failed bank and taxi cab company. Like millions of other Americans, he was out of work and out of money.

Without an education or a skill beyond boxing, Braddock searched for work of any kind to support his wife and 3 kids. Daily he would walk the 3 miles to the docks of Weehawken and Hoboken to see if work could be found. If there was, he would spend the day unloading railroad ties. If there wasn’t, he would walk another 2 miles to West New York. If there wasn’t any work to be found there either, he’d walk home to try to find some odd jobs like shoveling snow. It wasn’t unusual for him to walk 10-12 miles a day in search of a way to put food on his family’s table. His neighbors, who used to stop and shake his hand and slap his back, now crossed to the other side of the street when they saw him coming. He poured drinks at an athletic club for guys who used to take pride in his rise to prominence and now simply pitied the sad man behind the bar.

After 9 months without a fight, Braddock landed a bout against Corn Griffin. Although he was picked to be an easy win for Griffin, Braddock pummeled his opponent, causing the ref to stop the fight in the third round. From there Braddock won bouts against John Henry Lewis and Art Lasky and secured a spot fighting Max Baer for the heavyweight championship. His “fairytale” journey to being crowned the champ won him the name of “Cinderella Man” and is full of lessons for every man.

Always be ready for an opportunity. When Braddock’s manager, Joe Gould, found Braddock to tell him he had secured him a spot against Corn Griffin, Braddock hadn’t fought in 9 months. But at age 29, he was in the best shape of his life from his constant walking and work on the docks. Though he had only 2 days to prepare, he didn’t hesitate to accept the bout. “Two hours-or an hour-would have been enough,” he later said.

Gould and Braddock thought that his win over Griffin would immediately create more matches for Braddock, but no further opportunities emerged for 4 months. But Braddock stayed ready, working out hard at the famous Stillman’s gym daily. And when Braddock finally got the chance to fight again, he was ready.

Jimmy and Joe did everything together. Including joining the army during WWII.

Surround yourself with the right people. James Braddock and his manager Joe Gould were a study in contrasts. The Irishman was tall, brawny, modest, and quiet. Gould was a hot-tempered, short Jewish talker, who loved flashy things and the art of promotion. A man who hopes to be successful must surround himself and partner up with the right men, and Braddock’s pick of Gould to guide his career was impeccable. Braddock was generally quiet and avoided the limelight, and he relied on Gould to constantly talk up his abilities and harass anyone who would listen into getting Jimmy a fight.

Gould was absolutely loyal to Braddock. When his career hit the skids, Jimmy told Gould to go find some other, more profitable fighter to manage. But Gould refused. Even when evidence was scant, Gould always believed in Braddock’s potential, that he could turn it around and whip any comer. It was Gould’s unflagging persistence that secured Braddock his match with Corn Griffin and then his subsequent opponents. Sports writer Jack Kieran said:

“A fight manager is a human harpy who squeezes all he can out of the blood and bones of husky and courageous young fellows and then tosses them callously aside when they are battered hulks of no more financial advantage for him. But there are exceptions. Jim drew one of the exceptions in Joe Gould.”

Work your ass off for what you want. When Braddock secured a chance to battle for the title against Max Baer, he secluded himself in the Catskill mountains to prepare for the fight. His routine was rigorous and disciplined. He ran 8 to 10 miles every morning, then shadowboxed and jumped rope, sparred, and shadow boxed some more.

The press dubbed his training camp “Homicide Hall” as Braddock’s training regimen was more brutal than anything they had ever covered. Gould had brought in the very best sparring partners available, and he threw a fresh one at Braddock with every round, constantly keeping the boxer on his toes. And the sparring went all out. Writer Paul Gallico said:

“James J. has the toughest crew of spar boys ever assembled at any heavyweight’s training camp, and from 4 to 4:45 every afternoon, he amuses himself by prizefighting with them. And when I say prizefighting, that is also what I mean. For this business that goes on by the bonnie banks of Lock Sheldrake can by no stretch of the imagination be called sparring. It is fighting pure and simple. It is really the screwiest training camp you ever saw.”

This vigorous routine coupled with a Michael Phelps-esque diet allowed Braddock to pack on 10 pounds of pure punching power during the camp. The journalists who visited were astounded at his transformation; he wasn’t same boxer they had covered back in ‘29. Braddock will never be called one of the greatest boxers of all time; he was slow-footed and ungraceful. But what he lacked in talent and finesse he made up for with gritty resolution.

Turn you weaknesses into strengths. For most of Braddock’s career, only his right hand was effective at delivering blows. His left delivered little punching power. His right hand was constantly sore or fractured, leaving him an impotent and lopsided boxer. When Braddock broke his hand in three places in his fight with Abe Feldman, it seemed like a terrible turn of luck. But oftentimes our trials can turn out to be for our benefit. When Braddock worked at the docks during his “retirement” he was forced to use his left hand while his right hand healed. This greatly strengthened his left hand and when he returned to boxing, he found that his jab had finally turned into a potent and powerful weapon.

Instead of ignoring your weaknesses, work on overcoming them and sometimes they can become your greatest strengths.

Be confident. Braddock was never nervous when he climbed into the ring. In his bout with Baer, Maxie expected him to spend the first round anxious and jumpy, but Braddock came out swinging. His calmness came from an absolute confidence in himself. As a kid he took on any comer, and as a professional he would take any fight he could, criss-crossing the country to find an opponent. He knew he could take even the hardest punch and keep on standing. He had never been knocked out (and wouldn’t be until he lost the title to Joe Louis). And so as one contemporary newspaperman put it, “Serene was Braddock and unafraid. There was about him an inspiring calmness that transcended his ability.” He was so calm before the heavyweight championship that he laid down in his dressing room and took a nice nap. (In contrast, Max Baer was having sex with a woman who was not his girlfriend, a move that infuriated his manger who believed that copulation sapped an athlete’s strength).

Relish being the underdog. The champion has past successes to fuel him, but he often succumbs to hubris and is no match for the hungry, scrappy underdog. A man who is down and out can simply resign himself to always being on the bottom, or he can use his failures to spur his comeback. Braddock chose the latter. The odds on the Braddock/Baer showdown were 10 to 1, the biggest in heavyweight history. Ring Magazine hadn’t even listed Braddock in its top 19 best heavyweights in the country. There were 18 other men who were more highly thought of than him. Yet while Baer dismissed Braddock’s chances, clowning around at his training camp and spending his time mugging for fans instead of sparring, Braddock had the hunger of a man who took absolutely nothing for granted. He thought about all he had been through-the booing crowds, the mercilessly journalists, the injuries, the grinding poverty-and used it as fuel. He wanted to show all the naysayers that they were wrong for writing him off. And in 15 terrific rounds, he did just that.

Embrace personal responsibility. In time where individuals and corporations readily accept, nay even demand bailouts it’s hard to imagine a time where people felt deeply ashamed to accept welfare. For those who lived during the Great Depression, getting on the relief rolls was an absolute last resort, one that made them feel like failures. This was how James J. Braddock felt. He held out as long as he could, trying to make do with his meager earnings from working on the docks. But he was behind in paying the milkman, his rent, and the utilities. He had to move the family into the basement of the apartment building where they lived when then could no longer afford their old flat. The kids were hungry and the winter was long and cold. So he reluctantly put his name on the relief rolls. He was so embarrassed he told only a few close friends and kept it a secret even from his parents. But Jimmy saw the checks he got each month as a loan, not a handout. He carefully kept track of how much he received, intending to pay it all back once he got back on his feet. After he started his comeback and beat John Henry Lewis, he went the next day to have his name taken off the relief rolls. And when he beat Art Lasky, he went to pay back all that he had received. This was unusual, even for the time. But Braddock took honor and personal responsibly seriously.

Fight for your family. Unusual for boxers both then and now, Braddock was a family man with 3 kids. True to his down to earth nature, he wasn’t a flashy playboy like Max Baer. When he met Mae, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he was a devoted dad to his children. His love for his family pushed him to succeed. He couldn’t stand to see them hungry and suffering. He fought to protect and provide for them. After he won the heavyweight title and made his way back to his dressing room, the large crowd of newspapermen waited for him to speak. An emotional Braddock said, “I’m glad I won because it will please the wife and kids. I’ve got the prettiest kids in the world, and tonight I can go home to them and say, “Your daddy is champ.”

Later, Mae said, “My husband wasn’t seeing Max at all when he was in the ring fighting. What he saw was a fierce ogre, trying to keep him from chasing the big bad wolf from our door. He was thinking of me, and of the kids, every minute of those fifteen terrific fighting rounds.”

Source: Cinderella Man by Jeremy Schaap

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jonathan W. Thomas. Mr. Thomas runs the world’s largest Anglophile blog – Anglotopia – which has become a gathering place for Anglophiles all over the world. You can connect with him on Twitter as @jonathanwthomas.

As an ardent Anglophile, I have a lot of respect and admiration for Winston Churchill – Britain’s leader during the crucial World War II years. While he was not a perfect man by any stretch – he was a great man whose life has much to teach us about manliness.

Winston Churchill really epitomized what it meant to be a man in the early twentieth century. So, what were these manly traits and how can we apply them to our own lives? Let’s take a look.

Loyalty and Love

Churchill loved the British Empire, his monarch and his country. It was a love that he had his entire live. It was a love that inspired him to write great books and speeches, paint great pictures, and lead his country through its darkest days. Even though he was a ‘manly man,’ he was in touch with his feelings and felt love. He was also very loyal to his wife, Clementine. They were married until the day he died.

Standing up for what you believe

Throughout his parliamentary career, Churchill was often a political pariah. By the 1930’s, his career was considered over, and he was seen as the sad old man of the House of Commons, suffering from the ‘get off my lawn’ syndrome.  He was one of the few voices that warned of the rise of Hitler and a newly ascendant Germany. No one wanted to listen to the truth, but he persisted in speaking it anyway.

Perseverance

Churchill wasn’t one to give up easily. He was a man that was ALWAYS working. His family was not particularly rich, and so he had to rely on his own skills and knowledge to make a living. Churchill was a man that could sit down and write massive tomes of history from beginning to end – a testament to his inability to give up. When he was defeated in the 1945 election and was ejected by the very people he lead to victory, did he quit? Nope, he stayed on as the leader of the opposition and led his party to victory again in 1950, becoming Prime Minister once more.

Adventurous

Churchill was always up for an adventure and managed to travel the world many times, before such trips were commonplace. At a young age, he joined the military and saw action all over the British Empire. He relished his military adventures and spun his experiences into fabulous tales for the newspapers back home. It jump started his writing career – something that would keep him financially afloat the rest of his life.

Erudite

Churchill was a product of the British Public School system, meaning he was very well read. You can bet that he had to memorize entire works of literature – a skill recently featured on the Art of Manliness. Even though he was not a particularly great student – in fact he failed the military academy exams multiple times, he would go on to write great books of history and masterful speeches. He had a wit that could shut anybody up and was known for his wonderfully crafted insults.

Artist

Many men dismiss arts and crafts as unmanly and useless. Churchill, however, was an avid painter, a hobby that helped him keep the Black Dog, what he called his depression, at bay. He was actually a pretty good artist, and his paintings are very sought after in the art world. Many would argue that his paintings are much nicer than anything put out by Hitler when he was an artist. Churchill loved painting so much he even wrote a book about it called “Painting as a Pastime.” There is nothing more manly than appreciating a nice work of art or piece of classical music. Winston would; so should you.

Supreme Confidence

Churchill thought very highly of himself. He believed he was destined for greatness. This belief guided his every action and decision in life. I’m not suggesting that everyone should believe they will lead their country to greatness. What can be taken from this is that you really need to have confidence in yourself and your abilities before anything else. You are the source of all your success, and if you don’t believe that you can achieve great things, then you won’t.

Belief in the Greater Good

As a wartime leader, Churchill had many tough decisions to make. From destroying the French Fleet at Oran to the bombing of Dresden, he made many controversial choices that historians debate to this day. Whether or not his decisions were right or wrong, he believed he was doing the right thing and making the best choice for Britain.

Belief in the Written Word

Churchill was above all things, a writer. And a damn good one at that. He believed in the written word as a tool for inspiration and leadership. He hand wrote his speeches, working to create just the right flow and structure to maximize the speech’s effect on the listener. He used his words to stir his people, to comfort them, and inspire them to believe in the cause they were fighting for. He also wrote countless volumes on history from “A History of English Speaking Peoples” to his own Six Volume Account of World War II.

Oratory

Not only could Churchill write a masterful speech, he could deliver one with true power and feeling. He was a superior orator and gave some of the greatest speeches in history. His voice was full of confidence and steadfastness. In Britain’s darkest hours, families huddled around their radio, scared, anxious, and worried about what was happening. Churchill’s voice flooded into their homes, bringing with it the comfort of knowing that the country was in the best of hands.

Routine

Churchill was not a man who particularly enjoyed vacations; he always needed to be doing something. Whether that was painting, reading or writing, he constantly kept himself busy. His productivity was enhanced by the routine he set for himself. Even when he was Prime Minister, he stuck to it. He rose late,  worked in bed in the morning, took a bath and nap in the afternoons and worked into the night, often until 4 am. Score one for night owls.

Willingness to Fight

Winston never gave up. Whether is was mastering painting, battling his own political party or defending his country, Churchill was not a quitter. He’s an excellent example of a man whom when confronted – confronts right back and never surrenders. Now, this does not mean that all men should look for a fight – only that we should care about the fights that MATTER.

What are your thoughts on Winston Churchill and his manly virtues?

If you’d like to read more articles like this check out Jonathan’s Anglophile blog.

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Few men so well embody masculinity as the legendary assembly that stood in defense of the Alamo from February 23 to March 6, 1836. With a cast of characters larger than life itself, the story of the Battle of the Alamo stands out in early American history.The most notable of these men, David Crockett, was a true embodiment of masculinity. His had a full life, filled with bear hunts, expeditions into the unknown, speaking out against government corruption, and eventually giving his life in defense of the freedom he never once took for granted. A near mythical figure in his own time, his legend only continued to grow after his death, and his legacy lives on even today.

Drawing on their own words and the words written about them, we can examine the characteristics that made Crockett and his fellow Alamo defenders legends.

Never compromise your values

Davey Crockett

Crockett was already quite the celebrity by the time he arrived at the Alamo. Always interested in affairs of state, he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives and was twice elected to that office. As a Congressman, he was known chiefly for his opposition to the Indian Removal Act. This unfortunate policy was later signed into law in spite of his objections, and his outspokenness is considered the main cause of his defeat in a reelection bid the following year. Following this defeat, Crockett wrote:

I would rather be beaten and be a man than to be elected and be a little puppy dog. I have always supported measures and principles and not men. I have acted fearlessly and independent and I never will regret my course. I would rather be politically buried than to be hypocritically immortalized.

Crockett won his seat back the following election, only to lose it again at the end of the same term, signaling the end of his life in politics. Crockett then set his sights on Texas. Leaving behind his now large family, he went seeking adventure and exploration of unknown lands, hoping to find a place for his family to settle permanently.

In order to legally settle in Texas, Crockett had to take an oath of allegiance and sign on with the Texas militia. Eventually this course led him to the Alamo, where he fought bravely in defense of freedom and his fellow man.

A great man keeps company with great men

Jim Bowie

Arriving at the Alamo, Crockett quickly surrounded himself with invaluable counsel in the form of Colonel William Travis and another American legend, Jim Bowie. Travis, leader of the forces at the Alamo, is remembered for his refusal to surrender in the face of the overwhelming odds presented by the invading Mexican force. Bowie, another prominent frontiersman like Crockett, is especially remembered for the knife which now bears his name. Crockett expressed an interest in the then already legendary blade, noting that the mere sight of the immense weapon was enough to make a man sick before breakfast. Both men had been said to share a mutual respect, and Bowie was glad to have Crockett alongside him, not only for his fighting capabilities, but because of the energy and spirit he raised in the men.

Great men are courageous in the face of adversity

The encounter at the Alamo would soon unfold. Mexican General Santa Anna was marching his men across the Rio Grande with intent to capture all of San Antonio. Doing this would suppress the Texan rebellion and allow Mexico to regain control of the territory. The invasion crossed the path of the Alamo, which was said by General Santa Anna to have “the greatest concentration of cannons west of the Mississippi river.” It was a force he simply could not ignore. On February 23, 1836, Santa Anna arrived at the Alamo, bringing with him numbers reported as high as 5,000, although an estimated 1,400 were actually deployed in the attack. The Mexican forces laid siege to the old mission for thirteen straight days before their final assault. Seeing the bleak chances of success, Colonel Travis sent riders to request assistance from the Texas Government. His last letter, sent as an appeal for reinforcements, emphasizes his steadfast courage:

The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat.

Travis’ request for back-up went  unanswered, due mostly to a lack of manpower and poor organization on the part of the Texas Provisional government and the standing Texian army. This left the men at the Alamo, most of who were not even soldiers, to defend their post alone.

Visibly outnumbered, the forces of the Texas rebels held their post for thirteen days before the Mexican army pushed its final assault on March 6. The attack started at 5:00am and by 6:30am it had ended- the small mission now under Mexican control. Jim Bowie, who had been confined to his bed during the battle due to illness, stayed true to his legend, fighting until his last breath. He shot every Mexican soldier that entered through his door until he was out of ammo, upon which event the enemy was so scared to enter that they shot him from the doorway. They then approached his bed, and with his last dying breath he plunged his trademark weapon into the heart of one of the soldiers and fell dead.

Best estimates seem to indicate that all 183 Texians fell at the Alamo, crushed by the overwhelming Mexican force that raided the old mission.

How David Crockett met his untimely end is one of the great mysteries in the record of American history. While it is taken with a degree of certainty that he died defending the Alamo, there is much debate over whether he went out fighting or was captured and executed. One account, from a Colonel in Santa Anna’s Army, states that Crockett was captured with a few remaining others and tortured and executed. Many, however, consider this to be propaganda intentionally spread around by Santa Anna’s men to break the American spirit. Another account, taken from a former American slave who acted as cook for one of Santa Anna’s officers, maintained that Crockett’s body was found in the barracks surrounded by “no less than sixteen Mexican corpses,” with Crockett’s knife buried in one of them. The full account of Crockett’s demise may never be known, and perhaps that is for the better. In his book, Three Roads to the Alamo, William C. Davis writes of Crockett’s end:

His death, like his life, was simply too big to contain within the normal bounds of mortals. In the best heroic fashion of Nimrod Wildfire, Jeremiah Kentucky, Daniel Boone, and a whole generation of Americans searching for a new identity all their own, Davy Crockett, David of the River, Davy of the West, Loco Davy had died everywhere, because he was a host in himself. Besides, his end fitted the life of a legend. For when no one sees a legend die, then the legend lives.

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Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was a psychotherapist and brain surgeon who specialized in treating depression, especially for those prone to suicide. Being a Jew in Nazi Germany, he was sent to Auschwitz where he was reduced to nothing but his “naked existence.” As he entered the camp, they took the last of his belongings, including his clothes, his wedding ring, and the manuscript of a book he was writing. Then, every inch of his body was shaved as he was escorted into a shower room. His only consolation was that real water dripped from the shower heads instead of gas.

Frankl was a studious man who didn’t get a lot of physical exercise in life. One of his fellow prisoners said Frankl was the least likely to survive the torturous regimen in store for him. But by leaning on his rich inner life and helping other prisoners, along with some strokes of good luck, he lived to tell the tale. His story is a lesson in manliness for times of suffering, whether that suffering is small or great.

Have a sense of purpose. Frankl kept himself alive by developing a purpose: to keep other prisoners from committing suicide. He did so by helping them to achieve their own sense of purpose. He would encourage one man that he had to survive in order to return to a daughter that was safe in a foreign country. He would encourage another, who had no living relatives left, that he must return to his profession to complete the work he had begun.

In addition, part of his sense of purpose was to suffer well. He wrote, “It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

Develop a rich inner life. The man in the concentration camp who had a strong mind would often prove to be the stronger prisoner. These were men who could appreciate, on a cold march in the snow, the beauty of the mountains, the forest, or the sunrise. They kept their minds active by composing speeches, reconstructing lost manuscripts, and imagining life after imprisonment. They had prayer meetings to keep a strong connection to their religious beliefs.

Frankl said, “Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain (they were often of a delicate constitution), but the damage to their inner selves was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom.”

Develop a fervent love for your wife. For those who were married and truly in love with their wives, an extra source of strength was available to them. This was not a place where mere sexual fantasy could relieve a man from suffering (the sexual drive was mostly dead for the underfed and overworked prisoners). However, thinking of his wife – her features, her voice, and little incidents from their life together – a man found considerable strength for endurance. Frankl found this to be the case whether the wife was alive or dead. He often thought of the words of Solomon: “For love is strong as death.”

Frankl wrote, “I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.”

Choose your attitude. Frankl wrote, “The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.” This does not mean to think rainbows on a cloudy day, though it can. It can mean choosing indignation over coldness, joy over sorrow, strength over weakness, hope over despair. No man’s behavior is dictated solely by circumstance. His behavior can be directed by choice – the choice every living man has.

Viktor Frankl’s story can be found in Man’s Search for Meaning, a book about the psychotherapeutic ideas that he honed while in concentration camps. It is recommended reading for any man, showing the depths to which one can sink and the heights to which one can rise in the middle of the most horrific suffering imaginable.

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There are few manlier virtues than sacrifice. The ability to unselfishly put aside one’s own needs and desires to fulfill and protect the needs and desires of others requires a level of maturity and self-control few men ever truly attain. Instead, many men today are children living in man-sized bodies. They view the world and others as tools to fulfill their appetites. Only after they themselves are satisfied, can they begin to think about others. “What’s in it for me?” has become the battle cry of a generation.

“Sacrifice” comes from a Middle English verb meaning “to make sacred.” Ancient religions and peoples offered sacrifices of human and animals in order to sanctify their life or their community. But such gestures were invariably empty; external gestures can never substitute for internal failings. Instead, a man who wishes to sanctify his life must become a living sacrifice.

Of course the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. When the flames threaten to consume you, will you be able to take the heat?

These two men came under fire, quite literally, and passed that test. While both soldiers, they have much to teach all men about sacrifice and selflessness.

Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis

“The lives of four men who were his Army brothers outweighed the value of his one life. It was just a matter of simple kindergarten arithmetic. Four means more than one. It didn’t matter to Ross that he could have escaped the situation without a scratch. . . The choice for Ross was simple, but simple does not mean easy. His straightforward answer to a simple but difficult choice should stand as a shining example for the rest of us. We all face simple choices, but how often do we choose to make a sacrifice to get the right answer? The right choice sometimes requires honor.”

-The parents of Private Ross A. McGinnis

On December 4, 2006, Private Ross A. McGinnis was manning the machine gun turret of a Humvee patrolling the streets of Adhamiyah, Iraq. From the rooftop of a nearby building, an insurgent hurled a grenade into the vehicle. The Army instructs soldiers in the situation McGinnis now faced to immediately seek escape. McGinnis ignored this training and instead thought of the lives of his four Army brothers stuck in the Humvee. He yelled “Grenade!” into his microphone to prepare them for the blow and then pinned the grenade between his body and the vehicle, entirely covering it with his back. In a matter of seconds, the grenade exploded; McGinnis’ body absorbed its full impact. Four men’s lives were spared because of this selfless and courageous act.

Interestingly, a similar situation had arisen a month earlier. A different convoy of men had faced the same scenario. A grenade was thrown into the Humvee, only this time the soldier manning the machine gun immediately leaped from the vehicle. The grenade turned out to be a dud. Upon hearing what happened, McGinnis admitted that he wasn’t sure what he would do if it happened to him. It was only in the moment when the grenade landed by his feet that the true substance of what Private McGinnis was made of would be revealed.

Master at Arms Second Class Michael Monsoor

“Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, “You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.”

-One of the Navy Seals saved by Petty Officer Second Class Michael Monsoor

Even before that fateful in Iraq, Michael Monsoor had shown himself to be a true man. Monsoor was a sickly child whose serial bouts of asthma and fits of coughing often landed him in the hospital. But just as Theodore Roosevelt before him, Monsoor was determined not to let his weaknesses hold him back. He built up his lungs and body by frequently challenging his siblings to swimming races. Monsoor was more than successful in building up his physical prowess; as an adult he became part of the most elite fighting force on the planet: The Navy Seals

This kind of grit came in handy as Monsoor sought to fulfill his mission in Iraq as an automatic weapons gunner on a Seal sniper team. On September 29, 2006, Monsoor’s team was positioned on a residential rooftop in Ramadi, a hotbed for violence and a stronghold for the Iraqi insurgency. That morning, his Coalition battalion had fired upon and killed enemy fighters, revealing his unit’s position. Citizens blocked off the street and a mosque called upon the populace to besiege the Coalition force. Under attack, Monsoor and two fellow soldiers positioned themselves in a sniper hide-sight. As Monsoor diligently watched for enemy movement, an insurgent hurled a grenade onto the rooftop. The grenade bounced off Monsoor’s chest and fell to the floor. Positioned by the only exit, Monsoor alone could have attempted escape. Instead, he yelled, “Grenade!” and then seeing that his comrades would not have time to move away, dove unto the explosive, covering it with his body and absorbing its impact. His two Seal brothers were wounded but their lives spared.

Lessons for all men

Most men will never be faced with these kinds of life and death situations. But the selflessness and courage Private McGinnis and Petty Officer Monsoor displayed are values every man should seek to embody. Sacrifice is never easy whether on the battlefield or in our daily lives. When you are offered a promotion that will mean more money and prestige but zero time with your family, will you be able to turn it down? When your wife asks you to quit smoking because she wants to grow old with you, will you be able to quit? When a loved one needs a kidney transplant, will you be willing to give up yours? Will you be able to sacrifice your own desires to help someone else?

There will always be an escape, an avenue for retreat. What will you do when you are asked to step up? Will you cower in fear and flee? Or will you have the strength to do the right thing? A man can never know with absolute certainty how he will react in the moment of crisis, faced with such decisions. But you can decide each and every day, in your heart and your mind, what kind of man you want to be. You can decide that running away from challenges will never be an option. And you can strive each day to attain the values and training needed to become a selfless person. Then, when you are asked to sacrifice, you will not hesitate, making the honorable decision will be automatic.

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Theodore Roosevelt, who arguably accomplished more than any other American man, called his experience in the Spanish-American War, “the great day of my life.” It was during his charge up Kettle Hill that Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership and confidence finally crystallized. He passed the test and emerged as a leader capable of ascending to the presidency. His actions during the war impart crucial lessons on manly leadership:

1. Walk the Walk. Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child who grew up reading of ancient battles and warriors and longing to be one. He built up his body and as he got older started writing his own books about military feats. Yet he still longed to see action firsthand, and when the opportunity finally arrived, he wasted no time in seizing it. As soon as the Spanish-American War broke out, Teddy pestered the Secretary of the Navy for a commission in the army. He then sold his cattle ranch and some of his possessions, and took out life insurance in preparation of receiving it. He was fully prepared to put his money where his mouth (and pen) was.

2. Know your limitations. Teddy was never short on confidence, but he didn’t let cocksureness slip into arrogance. When Roosevelt got his wish for an army commission and was offered command of the First United States Volunteer Calvary as Colonel, he turned it down citing his lack of tactical experience. He instead accepted a position as Lieutenant Colonel and recommend Leonard Wood to be Colonel. (TR would later become Colonel when Wood was promoted to brigadier general.)

3. Pick the best men for your team. If you wish to surround yourself with the best men, you must be the kind of leader men fall over each to serve under. 23,000 men applied to be part of the First Calvary; most of them addressed their letters to Roosevelt even though Wood was technically in charge. Of the 23,000 only 560 were chosen. Some of the rejected cried, so heartbroken were they on not being able to be part of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Composed of the West’s best frontiersmen, marksmen, and horsemen and the East’s great athletes and prominent sons, the Rough Riders were a unique and unstoppable group.

4. Be one of the men. The ship which transported the troops to Cuba did not have room for many horses; Roosevelt was one of the few men in the regiment able to take his. When the Rough Riders arrived in Cuba, they began their march to Las Guasimas. The temperature was simmering, and the men trudged through the heat in thick uniforms and heavy bedrolls. Still, Roosevelt walked alongside the men, refusing to ride while they were marching.

5. Lead by example. Don’t ask others to do anything you are afraid of doing yourself. When it came time to take the San Juan Heights, TR’s regiment ran into heavy fire from the Spanish. As bodies piled up all around him, TR stayed on his horse as an example of courage. However, there was a delay before they could start scaling the hills, and the men, including TR, were forced to lay low and take cover. When the order finally came to take Kettle Hill, the men were reluctant to rise to their feet. TR mounted his horse and shouted, “Are you afraid to stand up, when I am on horseback?” He promptly took off, galloping across an open area and under a hail of bullets.

6. See it through. After securing Kettle Hill, TR noticed that the attacks on the neighboring San Juan Hill were faltering. He shouted for his men to charge, leaped over a barbed wire fence, and ran down the hill. When he glanced back, he saw that only 5 of his men had followed. 3 of these 5 were shot and TR was practically leading the charge single-handedly. He ran back under heavy fire, formed the remaining men (who claimed to have not heard the initial order) into a formidable assault line, and began the charge again.

Roosevelt’s personal bravery and leadership were critical elements in the success of the Battle of Las Guasimas. In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

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