US President Theodore Roosevelt famously held the diplomatic maxim: “speak softly and carry a big stick.” He maintained that a chief executive must be willing to use force when necessary while practicing the art of persuasion. But is brute force the sum of America’s strength? What else characterizes our nation such that others should follow us? What has made our negotiations on the world stage successful (and unsuccessful)?
The Jefferson Council, Common Sense Society, and Young America’s Foundation were proud to offer future diplomatic leaders the chance to hear directly from one of our nation’s premier contemporary statesmen, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, at the University of Virginia.
About the Speaker
Michael R. Pompeo served as the 70th Secretary of State of the United States, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and was elected to four terms in Congress. Mike graduated first in his class from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1986. He served as a cavalry officer in the US Army, leading troops patrolling the Iron Curtain. He left the military in 1991 and then graduated from Harvard Law School. Up next was almost a decade leading two manufacturing businesses in South Central Kansas — first in the aerospace industry and then making energy drilling and production equipment.