It seems in this day and age, I constantly find myself looking to men of the past for guidance and advice: Warren Buffet, Abraham Lincoln, Dale Carnegie, Earl Nightingale, Thomas Jefferson, just to name a few. I do not have a particular bias toward leaders of the past. I just cannot look up to any of the leaders we have today, they seem to have lost the touch, of which men of the past once had. They used to communicate with such conviction, people believed them, and likewise, the leaders enforced belief in the people. Lee Iacoca truly hit it on the head with his recent book highlighting today's lack of leadership. The true leaders of the past were the epitome of what the world's image is of a humble American. But this image has become so distorted over the years, it seems America's leaders are a thing of the past, extinct like the dinosaurs.

So, my question to you is this: Why has the quality of American leadership deteriorated so rapidly over the past 50 years?

(Only thoughtful answers welcome, no one liners please)