John Gilbert Winant became a leader and a hero to the people of many nations.[1] During the Great Depression and throughout the years that led to and consumed World War II, people in America, England, France and Poland were heartened by the role he played—by his honest championship for them and their plights. He labored to improve their beleaguered fates. Gil Winant stood tall among the statesmen of his day. He led the march for workers, for freedom and for peace. His legacy stands tall among all statesmen of all times. His hero was Abraham Lincoln. His fate was also tragic.

Winant’s public speaking skills were unremarkable. His delivery was often labored. Yet despite awkward moments of silence, he captivated listeners by what he had to say and the honest manner in which he said it. He became an influential Governor in New Hampshire and, later, during the war, he was America’s Ambassador to England. The Brits loved him. They called him “Winnie.” They knew that, if they could count on anyone throughout the Blitz, it was John Gilbert Winant—their American hero.[2]

Winant knew firsthand about the horrors of war—what they meant to warriors, what they meant to luckless civilians. In World War I, he was a fighter pilot for the Lafayette Escadrille. He also knew the horrors of peace time—how the specter of starvation visited a land that once overflowed with “Plenty.” In Durham, England, he witnessed the starving coal miners and their families. With one stirring speech, Winant belayed a strike that could have crippled the war effort. For the good of the cause, the miners resumed work, marching back into the pits for the war’s duration. Because of Gil Winant, they were happy and proud to do their bit despite their grave hardship.[3]

The moral of this tale of a little known American hero is not about nationalism or patriotism or doing one’s duty at all costs in all times of crisis. It is a moral that hides in our history and survives to this day. It is a truth concealed in Winant’s obscurity, and it is a danger cloaked in the fog of two forgotten “World” wars—terrible wars—wars that were fought a scant century ago. The truth and the danger are the endless cycles that haunt our human life on planet earth. The top and bottom lines to the Great Mandala[4] are the same. Whether or not John Gilbert Winant understood this, we can only guess. But he did say this during a re-election speech in 1930:

"There is want in the land today and men who know the dignity of labor are idle. When we turn into the new year and the sweep of winter winds and hunger and cold crowd in upon many a home, let those of us who plan to take on the duties of office and administer public funds see to it that the stigma of the pauper is never laid upon the consciousness of the willing worker, who asks help for wife and child because the wheels of industry have ceased to turn and there is no work abroad. We must plan to meet these great cycles of depression and manfully provide against them so that the poverty may be no part of modern civilization. That is the great task that confronts the American people today."

Now, today, let us not be idle. Let us harness the Mandala. Let us unite the people of our land and the world at large. We are all workers, and workers want to work. Peace must be at hand. If it is not, we must know why! And make it so.

Gil Winant could not get there with us. On November 3, 1947, the very day that his only book was published, he ended his life in sadness.

Can we find the hope that he once gave to millions? Can we carry the banner onward? Who will lead? Who will follow? Who will turn the great wheel from a cog of war into a mill that grinds the grist of Peace?

Image: John Gilbert Winant, 1889-1947 (in public domain)[5]

[1] See James O. Freeman’s “Brief Life of an Exemplary Public Servant” at: http://ww2hc.org/articles/winant.pdf

[2] Read Citizens of London by Lynne Olson: http://www.amazon.com/Citizens-London-Americans-Britain-Darkest/dp/0812979354 or at Powell’s Books: http://www.powells.com/s?kw=citizens+of+london&class=

[3] See: http://harvardmagazine.com/2000/11/john-gilbert-winant.html

[4] Richie Havens and Peter Yarrow sing “The Great Mandala”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozX0KazFoDk

[5] Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Gilbert_Winant.jpg