Hewlett Packard’s quarterly earnings came out recently and the firm continues to do well. Profits are rising based on cost reductions and modest revenue growth. Mark Hurd, the President and CEO, is receiving all the credit for HP’s turnaround and it certainly appears he is the right guy for the time.

But what about his predecessor, Carly Fiorina? You may remember that Carly was a media darling when she first took the job and her presence was larger than life. She took the heat when HP made the move to buy Compaq. I can’t remember if that was the beginning of her downfall, or she was already on a slide (I haven’t read her book), but that acquisition was controversial in the markets and with her board. And yet, she stuck with it, fought off dissident board members, sold it to skeptical shareholders and got it done.

When Carly and the company parted ways in 2005, the Compaq deal was still controversial. But as history is playing out, HP is doing very well in the computer business and giving Dell a run for its money. How would that have happened without Carly’s foresight and persistence?

Mark Hurd has become a star by cutting costs. The Compaq deal was the perfect setup for him. He got to finish the job of putting two personal computer companies together, which is fertile soil for any cost cutter.

I’m not saying Carly was perfect. Nor am I saying that she was the right one to take HP through this consolidation stage. But I do think it’s interesting to muse about how she will be treated in the history books. I suspect she won’t get the credit she deserves.

It also makes me think that there is a book in this somewhere. Not just about Carly, but about all the business executives that chose the right long-term course, and never got their due, either because the short-term pain was too great or they didn’t last long enough to see the benefits (the two are obviously related). Maybe when I retire I’ll write a book. Or maybe someone knows of such a book?