"It would seem improbable that a government in full accord with the natural bias of its people would most successfully advance its growth in every respect; and, in the matter of sea power, the most brilliant successes have followed where there has been intelligent direction by a government fully imbued with the spirit of the people and conscious of its true general bent. Such a government is most certainly secured when the will of the people, or of their best natural exponents, has some large share in making it"
-RADM Alfred Thayer Mahan, USN, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
-RADM Alfred Thayer Mahan, USN, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History