The more I thought about what would make a good president the more I realized the leadership qualities we as Americans look for have become greatly skewed. We are looking for someone who will solve all our problems and make the world a better place. Leadership is not supposed to work that way. What we need is a leader who will inspire us to be better; who, as Joseph Smith once stated, "[teaches us] the principles, then let's [us] govern [ourselves]. Instead of a electing a president to fix our economy, we should elect a president who will teach us good economics and then let us fix it ourselves. A president who openly taught living within our means, honest business practices, and the importance of building a savings would be far more effective than one who tries to fix the economy through legislation. The president's role is the cheif of the executive branch, or the part of the government that executes. It should be his role to teach the law and then show the consequences of not obeying it. He should not create policy, enact policy, or try to change policy. He should teach, preach, expound and exhort.
Another thing I would like to see change is the accountablity of the president to the people. Why is it that a man who's primary position is to ensure that laws are followed is accountable to us? Shouldn't we be accountable to him? Shouldn't we have to report to him on our personal economic, social, and foreign policies? If he followed his true job as a leader we would become responsible to him for the way we followed what he told us, he would not be accountable to us.
It is my opinion that one man can't change the world, but one man can lead the world to change. Leadership principles taught in our church government would qualify any man to lead this nation. We need a president who can exercise persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness, pure knowledge, who can reprove and show love. This is the type of president I would follow into battle, and who I would trust to lead our nation.
--Patrick
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2 comments:
I like your idea of a leader that leads but allows the citizens to choose their own way but I think sometimes you are confusing Church and politics. To take Joseph Smith's words about his religious leadership style (which sounds very libertatian!) and applying them to American politics takes them out of context. To take the Lord's words and substitute "Priesthood" for "the Presidency" profanes those words.
And I don't think that we should be responsible to the President in any way, shape, or form! HE is responsible to US, as are the members of Congress and all other elected representatives in our republic! As you said, he is the head of the Executive branch, and as such, he is there to review legislation from the Congress and sign it or veto it. I believe that is pretty much as much power as the Constitution gives him. He is our servent and I think you have your loyalties backwards.
You are describing a United Order kind of society which will not occur until the Savior returns for His Millenial reign. Then he will be our president/leader and yes, we will be accountable to him for "our economics, living within our means and honest business practices". It will be His role to "teach the law and then show the consequences of not obeying it". He will exercise "persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness, and pure knowledge". And isn't that what He does now through His living prophets? It is unreasonable and impractical to expect our president (or any world leader) to exercise such practices in the world in which we now live and with the knowledge which they now possess. I think the duly elected president of the United States should be accountable to those of us who elect him (or her) and also to the Congress and the Judiciary, as set forth in the divinely-inspired Constitution. It's also wholly impractical to expect each of us to report to him on our personal state of affairs. I agree that "one man can't change the world, but one man can lead the world to change". That is why we should take each election seriously and believe that we are accountable for our choices concerning such. We should seriously research and consider the issues and each candidate's stated position on them. Then we should vote according to our conscience. Our Church's policy and practice of Church government simply would not work in our present-day society. The people are not ready for it and would be wholly unprepared to live it. I personally feel a much greater allegiance to the President/Prophet of the Church than I do to the President of the United States. I personally will follow our prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ and by so doing will be a much better citizen of our country. I know you feel the same way and I wish your idealistic view of our country's leaders was practical, but it simply is not. The President of the United States is and should continue to be accountable to us and we likewise are accountable unto God for our choices.
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