The President, as historian, writer, publisher

There were, perhaps still are, some world leaders who, besides being (some level of) politician, either love(d) the arts, aesthetics and life’s finer things. A few were/are actually poets, singers, writers, artists, musicians and actors. (I think of many of America’s forty-four Presidents; of Vaclav Havel; of Dr. Eric Williams (of Trinidad); of Grammy Award Winner Barack Obama, among others. (Ronald Reagan was a Grade 2 (Cowboy) actor and Bill Clinton loved his saxophone with his late friend Ben E. King.)

It’s a great pity that our Forbes Burnham, the gifted orator, did not write nearly as much as his original leader and counterpart Cheddi Jagan did. Mrs Janet Jagan despite all her detractors’ criticisms and her real misdeeds, was an outstanding woman-activist honoured internationally. So, for me,