preview

The Political Process Has Consumed My Time At Columbia Essay

Decent Essays

The political process has consumed my time at Columbia. From a very young age, I knew that I wanted to be involved in one day being a leader that constructs policy. With this calling in mind, I have always been a fan of political history. There have been many great achievements in the realm of domestic politics and foreign policy, but there are also examples of extraordinary failure. These failures demonstrate what works when one seeks to build a team and make decisions that affect the lives of millions of people. One such failure that comes to mind is the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
The invasion was a plan to topple the Cuban government, with a group of Cuban expatriates with the support of the U.S. government. The invasion was a complete failure. Although Kennedy was known to have a cabinet and set of advisors, which came from the best schools and were supposed to be the best in the business they failed to notice even the most obvious flaws in their plan. In short, there were numerous flaws, ranging from the expected reaction of the Cuban populace, the capacity of the Cuban military and all around faulty intelligence. In fact, many of these issues were never even addressed, while the plan was being discussed. Many of these issues were based on faulty intelligence, which was never questioned. Irving Janis, wrote a book called Group Think, which examined these fiascos like these along with many others. The premise was simple, why do groups of what we consider very smart

Get Access