The Revolutionary

This Bloomberg anecdote feels more illustrative than strictly accurate, and it is all the more revealing for that. Notice how, as he came to the conclusion of a series of remarks that implicitly suggested the relevance of his own virtues, philosophy and experience to the national and global stages, he recurred to the stuff of his childhood—patriotism, the flag, love of tradition—to close the case. What was the one thing that bridged these two mythic neighborhoods—neighborhoods, in the mayor's telling, divided by culture and custom? They had nothing in common, nothing to hold them together, nothing to link them one to another. Nothing, Michael Bloomberg suggested, save for one thing: Michael Bloomberg.

Before Massachusetts's next Patriots' Day—it will be observed on Monday, April 21, 2008—Bloomberg will have made his decision about whether to run for president. There is little in the story of his life to suggest that he would not seek out and embrace such a challenge; after all, he always has. Like Johnny Tremain and Paul Revere, he would like to have the fate of a nation in his hands. He cannot imagine a safer place for it.

With Jonathan Darman, Suzanne Smalley, Mark Hosenball, Eve Conant, Ashley Harris, Roxana Popescu and Karen Breslau

© 2007