Who are your Role Models? Introduction

My First Role Model

This post introduces a planned series of seven on the subject of Role Models. The recent post on Heroes and Heroines got me thinking about the distinction between the actions we think of as heroic, and the actions which have influenced, motivated, or inspired us.

Here in chronological order are my Role Model nominees. I will explain why I revere them in future posts.

• Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
• Michelangelo Buonarroti (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564) 
• President Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826).
• C. S. Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963).
• General Maxwell R. Thurman (February 18, 1931 - December 1, 1995).
• Father Theodore "Ted" Hesburgh (born May 25, 1917).
• General David H. Petraeus (born November 7, 1952).

Which figures from your life so far, or from history, or even from fictional literature, have most inspired you? To whom do you turn for an example? Who are your mentors and role models? Whom do you aspire to be more like? From whom do you draw inspiration? I find this question fascinating, and over the course of a few posts I'd like to share some of my role models with you. Meanwhile, I hope you will share your own thoughts on this subject, either by email or in the comments below.