The Legacy of Simon Bolivar

One cannot talk of the history of the South America without mentioning Simon Bolivar. He is one leader who particularly changed the history of the Latin America forever. He was a very important leader in the fight of the independence of many countries in South America. The South America had to struggle for their independence through the Bolivar’s war from the Spanish people. Jose de San Martin later known as Simon Bolivar is acknowledged as the greatest liberator of Spanish South America (Lynch, 2007). He had small groups of people who followed him and believed in his efforts. He united these groups and made surprise attacks that led to defeat of the Spanish (Giggs, 2012). Finally the paper will look into the importance of his legacy to modern world.

Simon Bolivar left a legacy of an exemplary leader who stood out from all other leaders. He can be described as an intellectual, revolutionary and visionary leader (Bolivar et al, 1983). Despite this death, Bolivar was still taken care under privileged childhood. He was brought up under a responsible guardian who ensured that he accessed a sophisticated education in Caracas. Here he accessed two important tutors who modeled his idea of independence. In 1799, he left for schooling in Spain. This is the first time he came to intermingle with the Spanish people. This was a pivotal moment independence wars of South America. Between 1819 and 1830, he held the post of the President of Gran Columbia (Calarge, 2013). He successfully led the Magdalena war. The war took place in 1812 after the Spaniards had blocked the Magdalena River.

It was the river that through which Cartagena received supply of its needs. This was especially after he executed Manuel Piar who happened to be among his distinguished and patriotic ally. He executed him for treason. Through his courageous character, Bolivar handed independence to six countries of America. They include Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia and Colombia. He made a great achievement by becoming a president Gran Columbia between 1819 and 1830. He can be viewed as an important person in advocating for importance to fight for independence in America. This ignited many movements to come up to fight for independence in America. In the early 19th century, people in the Latin countries needed some guidance on how they were to act and think against the notion of being inferior to the Spaniards.

Being enlightened by Bolivar was all that people needed to take action for their freedom. Simon Bolivar was a role model in South America. Leaders too need courage to execute their plans. Courage is a precise alchemy that constitutes great leadership. To be a great leader, one should be bold, have reasoned judgment, assertive but reflective disposition, spirited but have a calculated risk-taking move. Aristotle refers to courage as first virtue that makes other virtues possible. There are times when presidents of various countries should be bold in countering external attacks and other international interference of country’s affairs. This was one of the weaknesses that Simon Bolivar had. For example in 1819 during his address about war of independence, he encouraged regular election.

Later on after 7 years, he told people of Venezuela to shun from elections because it resulted in great scourge of anarchy (Bushnell, 2003). Today’s leaders can learn to avoid a contradicting leadership approach. Conclusion The life of Simon Bolivar was short but very comprehensive. Liberal historians consider him as a liberator while Marxists acknowledges him as revolutionary leader. Still, others question the importance that his career played. They reject the cult of a hero. They consider economic structures, international conjuncture, social groups and economic structures as factors that define liberation. They disregard the heroic deeds that lead to liberation. com/biography/Simon-Bolivar Briggs, M. (2012, May 16). In Profile: Simon Bolivar – The Liberator. Retrieved from https://soundsandcolours. com/articles/bolivia/in-profile-simon-bolivar-the-liberator-3864/ Calarge, C.