Where Have All the Leaders Gone? by Lee Iacocca, Catherine Whitney

design, not weight. Instead of building heavier cars to protect ourselves from other people in heavy cars, let’s put the focus on building lighter, more fuel-efficient cars. Even the larger vehicles, like SUVs and minivans, can be built lighter.
6. I’d consider restoring the nuclear option. I’d push for a reactivation of nuclear power as a viable option. It’s time to stop running scared from Chernobyl and start realizing that we now have the systems and technology to build fail-safe nuclear power plants. All over the European Union, they’re investing in building cleaner, safer nuclear power plants. Europe derives about one third of its electricity from nuclear power. France is the leader, at 78 percent. Even Russia is planning a major expansion of nuclear energy. This renewable source of energy is not only environmentally friendly, it’s efficient. Our problem is that when we got worried about nuclear plant safety, we turned it over to the lawyers to fight for safeguards. Here’s a tip: Never turn the future of your country over to the lawyers! The Europeans did it right. They turned the problem over to the engineers. The United States is lagging far behind in nuclear energy, when we should be on the leading edge.
     Of course, you can’t fuel a car with nuclear energy, but you can run a car on electricity generated by nuclear power. In December 2006, I attended the Alternative Energy Show in Los Angeles, and the big news for cars was plug-in hybrids. They were being touted as the wave of the future, and I agree. That will happen much faster if we restore our investment in nuclear power. I can imagine a scene in the not too distant future when one spouse will turn to the other at bedtime and say, “Honey, did you remember to turn off the lights, bring in the cat, and plug in the car?”
7. I would create a sense of urgency. Where’s the sense of urgency about solving this problem? There is none. But all you have to do is look at other times in history when we created a national purpose. We did it with the Manhattan Project when we built the A-bomb. We did it with NASA when we went to the moon. Do you mean to tell me that with all our technological genius and know-how, we can’t figure out a solution to a problem that is so devastating to our economy and the environment?

    We’ve got options. This isn’t an unsolvable problem. I’m here to say that we can tackle this and win. And we need some leaders who will show us the way. Let’s hear their ideas. In the coming campaign, energy should be front and center, and we—the voters—can put it there.

IX
     

Free trade must be fair trade
     
    I t was September 1993. I was at my house in Tuscany, where I spend a few weeks every autumn. At about two A . M . the phone rang, waking me out of a sound sleep.
    The woman’s voice on the other end of the line was wide awake and chipper. “I have the President on the line,” she said.
    “Okay,” I answered, wondering, president of what ? Then the familiar voice burst over the line. “Lee, it’s Bill Clinton.”
    I sat up a little straighter on the edge of my bed. When the President calls, you listen.
    “Listen, Lee, can you come to the White House around ten tomorrow morning? I have something very important to discuss with you.”
    “Well, Mr. President, I would be happy to, but I’m not sure it’s physically possible. You know, I’m in Italy.”
    “You’re in Italy?” He was genuinely surprised. “They didn’t tell me that.” He paused. “What time is it over there?”
    I looked at the clock. “It’s just after two in the morning.”
    He laughed. “Sorry. Go back to sleep. But get here as soon as you can.”
    A few days later, sitting in the Oval Office, I had to smile as President Clinton attempted to persuade me to join his fight to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement. He especially wanted me to take on Ross Perot, who had launched a loud campaign against the agreement. I have to