Tradition Two – Short vs Long Form

Why is the long form of Tradition Two shorter than the short form. This is a question that G.S.O.s Archives receives​ nearly every week; it also comes up at Regional Forums.

Answer: A.A.s Twelve Traditions were originally published in a​ series of articles starting with the May 1946 issue of the Grapevine. These are what we consider the Long Form of theTraditions. For the next several years, Bill W. traveled around the country explaining the Traditions and trying to get members to become more familiar with them. In 1949, A.A. member Earl T. of Chicago initially suggested to Bill that he rewrite the A.A Traditions, stating that they were too long. Bill worked on shortening the Traditions with the idea of producing a concise statement for information and instructional purposes that could be printed along with the Twelve Steps.

In a letter dated June 17, 1949, Bill explained the following​ about the short form of the Traditions. He wrote, accordingly, I have worked over the material once more, coming up with what I hope is a quieter and clearer job, something ​which would be a more fitting companion to the Twelve Steps themselves and of just about the same wordage.

After many searches through the years, the Archives staff has been unable to find any documentation by Bill as to why he ​chose to include the additional line in Tradition Two, Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern. In their​ search they turned up a letter written by former G.S.O. Archivist Frank M.:​ As you’ll recall historically, the climate was not fully positive for organizing Alcoholics Anonymous in the late 40s and early 50s. Folks thought things might get too complicated if Traditions were to come on line and a General Service​ Conference started. They worried about control issues. Thus the line about our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern was added to allay these fears.