There were no guarantees that Martin Luther King Jr. was going to emerge as the leader of the American civil rights movement. Ulysses S. Grant might have remained in relative obscurity within the Union Army. Charles de Gaulle risked being shunned by other officers when he tried to rally the cause of Free France. Lord Halifax could have been selected over Winston Churchill in 1940.
It is heartening to spot the fortunate close calls in history. Consider the times, however, when the wrong person was selected and a much better result was lost. There are no magical guarantees that the best will be inevitably recognized, much less given the chance to fulfill their promise. At any given time, there are plenty of Grants and Churchills stranded in the wilderness.
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