Individual qualities allow people to become potential leaders; however, it is the circumstances of the time that make the leaders great. The Taiwanese President Chen Shui Bien's life story is a realistic reflection of this theory. Chen's assiduous personality enabled him to triumph over hostile circumstances to become the leader of a nation. Yet, Taiwan's present political and economic conditions have disqualified him as a great leader.

Being born into a yeoman family in Tainan, one of Taiwan's more under-developed regions, Chen and his family lived on meager resources. Thus, helping with the family farmland was a daily chore of Chen's throughout his teenage years. Despite the minimal time Chen had left for studying, through diligence and perseverance, Chen received scholarship to attend the top secondary school in Tainan.

Upon receiving a score on the college entrance exam higher than 98% of all other examinees, Chen matriculated in the best academic university within the nation. While in college, Chen joined the Democratic Party and asserted a leadership role among the younger party members.

Chen's political career first began with a seat in the Tainan county legislature. He then went on to win seats in Congress; he also became the mayor of Taiwan's capital city. During this period, Chen experienced major setbacks in his political career as his involvement in the Formosa Incident led to his three-year imprisonment and his wife became paralyzed from waist down due to an accident during one of Chen's political campaigns. In spite of these obstacles, Chen remained strong.

In the 2000 presidential election, Chen defeated two other candidates, one of which was a former vice president, and inaugurated as the first president from the Democratic Party after forty years of rule by the Kuomintang. Reexamining his life thus far, Chen, with his assiduity, climbed up the social ladder and...