Leadership Quote by William Lyon Mackenzie King

King’s sentence is a master class in political containment: a warning dressed up as care. “Outspoken” signals that he expects pushback, not just from the troops but from a public that bristles at being lectured during wartime. So he builds a moral case that can’t easily be argued with. He isn’t condemning soldiers; he is “especially concerned for the welfare” of people “risking their lives.” That framing turns discipline into compassion, and regulation into protection.

The key move is the pivot from “I” to “we.” King begins with personal agency - he’s the one taking heat - then expands responsibility outward, recruiting the entire nation into his position. If everyone is “especially concerned,” then dissent starts to look like indifference to soldiers’ safety. This is soft power rhetoric: not a command, but a social script about what decent citizens should want.

“Intemperance” matters as a loaded, slightly old-fashioned term. It’s not just drunkenness; it carries the baggage of temperance politics, respectability, and the belief that private habits are national security issues. In the wartime context, that implies alcohol is more than a personal vice: it threatens readiness, morale, and the public image of a military fighting “in the cause of freedom.” King is also insulating himself against accusations of moralism by placing the burden on necessity. The subtext is plain: we will police behavior, but you should experience it as gratitude.