The Heart and The Fist - a Review of Eric Greitens' story

I met Eric Greitens at a meet-and-greet a month ago as he was touring the state in the initial phase of his run for governor.  Similar to the Presidential race, the Republican field for the Missouri governor's race is growing.  The first thing that impressed me about Greitens was his willingness to listen.  He sat with eight of us around a table, learned our names, and then heard our stories and our concerns about the pressing issues in Missouri.  He asked clarifying questions and only rarely responded with his own ideas.  I felt as if he genuinely cared. 

Then a friend loaned me his book, The Heart and The Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, The Making of a Navy Seal.  The books tells Eric's story, and what a story it is.  He tells of his initial disappointment with higher education as he studied public policy at Duke University, but he later tells of how he appreciated his professors' passion for learning.  Many of the chapters tells of his humanitarian trips during summer breaks.  Within those chapters, his grand theme emerges:  in areas of extreme hardship, like Bosnia, Bolivia and Rwanda, he witnessed incredible human strength; the best humanitarian efforts made the most of those strengths.  However, he recognized the need for others, including outsiders, to work to defend the weak, including using force when necessary.  After college, Greitens received a Rhodes scholarship and studied at Oxford, earning a Ph.D. by studying what really works in humanitarian aid.  This reveals an inquisitive bent in Mr. Greitens.  He wants to know what works and what doesn't, and he is willing to look, to listen and think deeply.  We need leaders who will do these things.  We need leaders who will lead from a place of deep reflection!

The second half of the book follows his next adventure.  In an interesting twist, Greitens describes his gnawing desire to take action.  After years of observing and studying, he wanted to execute, to get personally involved.  So he joined the Navy with the promise of one shot to qualify as a Navy SEAL.  He gives several chapters to describing the intense training and physical and mental testing of SEAL qualification.  The book concludes with a few chapters in which he describes his various deployment experiences, plus a chapter about his post-Navy life as he started his foundation, The Mission Continues.  Eric continues to do great work in helping combat veterans return to daily life, and to find meaningful service.

A secondary theme that runs throughout the book is that of living a meaningful and fulfilling life.  As Greitens recounts his own young adult years, his observations of others around the world, and his current work with returning veterans, he constantly reminds the reader of the elements of a meaningful and fulfilling life: service to others. I really appreciate this strong theme.  It is so greatly needed, especially in our consumer-oriented culture.

One drawback to the book is the noticable secularity.  Greitens does mention religion, especially as it related to his parents, but I am thinking bigger than religious affiliation or activity.  The theologian in me constantly looks for a God-orientation in one's worldview.  The absence of a God-ward orientation is simply a secular, and therefore humanist, worldview.  I fully believe in the values of both compassion and strength, the need for strong hearts and strong fists.  The basic motivation, however, must be the heart of God. We need to look for and capitalize on human strength wherever it can be found.  I believe that in order for it to sufficient and lasting, though, we must acknowledge God as the source of that strength.  While I do not expect to find a reference to God on every page, I was disappointed to find few references to God or even to the place of faith in public discourse and policy.  This may be an unfortunate result of our increasingly secular higher education system.

In the end, the book serves as a great introduction to a man who will undoubtedly lead our country in this generation.  I believe that Eric Greitens is the kind of leader that we need, including and especially in the Republican Party.  We need leaders with knowledge and experience in humanitarian work, which is usually believed to be the rightful domain of liberals, who can form policy around conservative principles that actually work.  If you want to think about the intersection of compassion and armed force, take a look at this book.  If you want to discover the philosophy of a young, up-and-coming leader, then check out this book.