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Being In the Right Place at the Right Time

There is more to being lucky than you think

Malky McEwan
E³ — Entertain Enlighten Empower
7 min readJan 20, 2025

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Man holding a trophy, smiling and giving the thumbs up.
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There is a long history of vice presidents despising the job. It was considered such a minor role the incumbents weren’t included in presidential cabinet meetings until 1919.

“The job is about as useful as a cow’s fifth teat.”

—This is how Harry S. Truman described the vice presidency when offered the post by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Here’s the thing though, Trueman eventually accepted the position. He was only vice president for eighty-two days when Roosevelt died and he took over. So, Trueman went from senator to vice president to authorising the dropping of the atomic bomb in just under seven months.

It’s a most astonishing career trajectory.

A similar thing happened to one of my colleagues.

When opportunity knocks

Davy was one of those cops who strolled through work life putting in little apparent effort. He wasn’t the smartest nor the stupidest. After an unremarkable seven years of policing the streets, Davy was transferred to an office to check reports. There he remained, behind a desk, working from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday for 18 years.

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Malky McEwan
Malky McEwan

Written by Malky McEwan

Born storyteller. Born curious. Fascinated with what makes people tick and how the world works. https://malkymcewan.medium.com/subscribe

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