DW Phillips

Jan 25, 2025

Few leaders in the history of the modern era have fought against seemingly insurmountable odds with greater clarity of purpose for their nation than Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.

Even fewer have carried the burdens of this man – the defense of more than 40 million people from an aggressive army of Russian butchers and psycho-sexual torturers with no mercy for their victims. The complicated intricacies of advocating for his nation on a global stage. Of rallying friends while waging a costly, defensive war.

Few men have been falsely accused, maligned and lied about with the level of intensity and slander as that directed at Ukraine’s Jewish, 47 year old leader.

There will always be those armchair pundits incapable of seeing past the shortcomings and weaknesses of great men. Theirs is a miserable lot driven more by criticism than hope. They forget that errors and shortcomings abound with great leaders precisely because they are human and not gods. The best of men are fallible mortals with finite strength and imperfect judgment. But they give others hope. They cast meaningful vision. They model sacrificial leadership. They refuse to quit.

Most importantly, the greatness of truly great men is revealed in the singularity of their contribution during a moment of supreme crisis. They arrive on the scene when, but for their leadership, the center would not hold.

By this standard, Zelensky is a giant. The kind that future generations will remember as the man of the hour. The unflinching truth speaker swimming in an ocean of sharks with bloody intentions. Whatever happened in his life before February 24, 2022 matters little in comparison to all that has happened afterwards. By deed and word, he has modeled leadership when it was most desperately needed.

Every once in a while a leader emerges who was born for a moment. True of Zelensky. What Wallace was for the Scots, Washington to the American patriots, and Churchill to the English in their darkest but finest hour, Zelensky is for his own people and the world.

Zelensky has reminded us that God favors the pure in heart. That men and nations follow courage. And that a message once dearly cherished by Americans – “give me liberty or give me death” – is alive and well in the hearts of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

Happy birthday Mr. President.

You are the man “for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)

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DW Phillips is a filmmaker, attorney and writer. He directs for Ukraine Story, a foundation for documentary reporting and journalism.

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