If Denethor hadn't committed suicide

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

His position as the shield of the West against Mordor had become so important to him that in the end, he seems to have regarded the whole War of the Ring as a personal pee-contest between himself and Sauron, the lord of the Dark Tower and the lord of the White. If he'd been able to accept that he was just one figure among many others in the great struggle (an important one, no doubt, but not crucial), a servant of a greater cause that could still prevail even if he himself failed, he could have forgiven himself and survive.

Interesting way to characterise Denethor's perception of his struggle with Mordor. Did Sauron actually...void himself? Never mind. I don't want to know.
The Professor said, I think in one of the Letters, that Denethor had become too 'political'. He was opposed to Sauron not in a right / wrong or black / white way, but merely because Mordor stood in opposition to the state he served, Gondor. Denethor as a politician was not up to the strain of the War: lacking a moral imperative to resist Sauron, his unwillingness to listen to counsel, and his readiness to kill himself and leave his people leaderless in their darkest times seem to me even more explicable.