There are so many things I could write about Volodymyr Zelensky. I could devote an entire book to tracing his improbable ascent and transformation from television comedian to wartime president, examining the way he reenergized if not redefined Ukrainian national identity, analyzing his diplomatic agility in holding together a fragile Western coalition, presenting his moral virtues and unsurpassed statesmanship. Yet even if I were to address all this and more, I still feel that my words would fall short. Therefore, I will not attempt it.

As to why I admire him, I could not give a better answer than New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who wrote in an op-ed two months after the Russian invasion that “the question almost answers itself.” Quoting from his excellent and penetrating piece that is as relevant and as true today as it was then:

We admire Zelensky because he models what a man should be: impressive without being imposing; confident without being cocksure; intelligent without pretending to be infallible; sincere rather than cynical; courageous not because he is fearless but because he advances with a clear conscience.

Because I hope that future professional historians will do a much better job than I in presenting Zelensky’s achievements and because there is nothing more I can add to Stephens’s op-ed to express my admiration, I have instead chosen to focus today on one aspect of Zelensky’s greatness that I have not yet seen anybody else adequately refer to. On this solemn four-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I consider this to be my modest contribution to honoring the heroic Ukrainian people through their leader.

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