I sat next to a hero of mine at a dinner recently. A former head of the US Special Forces, Admiral William H. McRaven, served in dangerous missions as a Navy Seal for 37 years. He also ran the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

A decade ago, it seemed certain that this would be Adm McRaven's main claim to fame. But history can take curious turns. And if you Google his name today, one of the first things that pops up is the criticism he correctly lobbed at Mr Donald Trump in 2018, when the then US president attempted to politicise the military. (Mr Trump hit back by saying the admiral should have caught Osama faster.)