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You want to avoid losing in life? You better be likable in life. And isn't John Bolton coming to discover that?

He's being attacked, now not so much for his views on the United Nations, but how he treated underlings. A bully, they say, and a vindictive, nasty one at that. Even his backers acknowledge he has his rough edges, but that he's brilliant.

And I personally think his brilliance will win the day and ultimately his confirmation.

But all this would be a heck of a lot easier if he were just more easy-going.

We like easy-going people. We like likable people.

It's why I think we forgave John Kennedy for the Cuban Bay of Pigs crisis. He was new in the job, for one. He was very likable, for another. We gave him a pass.

It's why I think we never forgave Richard Nixon on Watergate. He wasn't new in the job, but he was, fairly or not, very unlikable. He got no pass.

Ronald Reagan was likable and smiled through a Cold War.

Jimmy Carter was unlikable and smiled through a single term.

Sunbeam's Al Dunlap was nasty and ultimately history.

Lee Iacocca was feisty but friendly. He made history.

Get the point? Then get a smile. It'll come in a lot more handy.

Watch Neil Cavuto weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on "Your World with Cavuto" and send your comments to cavuto@foxnews.com