Hubris and overconfidence are always dangerous things.
— Erik Larson
It was baked in from the beginning: Trump's hubris could only cause the president to bungle his first "crisis."
History teems with popinjays like him.
One was the Confederate George Pickett, a man many contemporaries described as an "arrogant child."
During the Battle of Five Forks (April 1, 1865), Pickett—yes, the same general who led the futile charge at Gettysburg—was so confident he could repel a Federal attack, he accepted a fellow commander's invitation to attend a shad bake behind the lines, leaving his troops without their leader.
Shad were a fish local to Virginia's rivers, and shad bakes a tasty rite of spring for Virginia boys like Pickett.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, Pickett went off to the picnic without telling anyone he was leaving, where he could be found, or who should command in his absence.
A Federal attack indeed came, and Pickett's leaderless troops were overwhelmed.
His rout resulted in the surrender of the whole Confederate army at Appomattox eight days later.
NOTE: Remember to wash your hands!
