It is necessary for me to establish a winner image. Therefore, I

The words of Richard M. Nixon echo with the raw hunger of ambition: “It is necessary for me to establish a winner image. Therefore, I have to beat somebody.” In these lines, the mask of diplomacy falls away, and we glimpse the primal truth of politics as contest. Here, victory is not merely achievement, but identity itself. To be seen as a winner is to hold power, and to hold power is to command the stage of history. Without conquest, the world forgets; without triumph, even talent fades into dust.

The ancients would have recognized this creed, for the gladiator in the Roman arena lived by it. He could be skilled, cunning, and strong, but none of it mattered until he defeated another. In that clash, the crowd saw proof of his worth. So too in the political realm: to rise, one must not only build but also overcome. Nixon’s words reveal the eternal truth that power is measured not only by one’s own deeds, but by the shadows of those left behind.

Consider Nixon’s own path to the presidency. He rose to prominence as the man who exposed Alger Hiss in the 1940s, proving his toughness to a nation trembling before the specter of communism. In that victory, he did not merely uncover a spy; he carved the image of a man who could fight, who could win. That single battle became the foundation of his identity, setting him on a road that would lead to the White House itself. Without such victories, he might have remained another name lost in the halls of Congress.

This teaching, though fierce, carries both warning and wisdom. The thirst to “beat somebody” can drive men to greatness, but it can also consume them. For when the image of being a winner becomes more important than the substance of leadership, downfall often follows. And so it was with Nixon, whose victories lifted him to the highest seat of power, but whose obsession with image led to the tragedy of Watergate, a scandal that forever stained his name.

Let the generations remember: ambition is a fire that can warm or destroy. To establish the image of a winner may gain the crown, but if victory is sought only for its own sake, it becomes a hollow prize. The true leader must strive not only to defeat an opponent, but to build a legacy of justice and service. Otherwise, the glory of conquest fades, and history remembers not the winner’s image, but the cost of the struggle.