living in the shadows

That is Howard's problem. Hawke, Sir William Deane, Menzies. I don't like the man on account of his lies and the way he uses his glasses as an excuse for ineptness. I saw too many little kids at school with glasses who used glasses as a symbol of innocence. He/she looks so sweet they could not possibly be responsible for the havoc that seemed to exist around them. Meanwhile the red headed freckly faced kid would get the blame.
It's what Howard does and he gets away with it just like the glasses kids at school. Sir William Deane was genuine in his agony for the families who had lost children in the rapids disaster in Austria and Howard wanted some of that sincerity to be recognised in him. He probably is a genuine person in his own way but he is acting out an image because this is what the aussies want. In doing so he is no longer true to himself. He is unlike Nelson Mandela who told his people - "If you want me to lead you, then listen to me. If you do not want to listen to me, then get yourselves a leader whom you will listen to". So Howard lives out his image in photo ops at sport, farewelling Defence troops, the Bali tragedy. This is what makes him a little man, not his physical stature.