Great Expectations
(Realistic Expectations Of Our Leaders?)
First, here is a list of things that should be assumed and
understood before approaching the subject:
1. Every human being is flawed and has weakness.
2. Anyone who has power is going to abuse that power to some extent.
3. Anyone who has power is going to have people and/or agendas that will be
favored.
4. We should expect higher standards and character traits from our leaders
because they are leaders.
5. It is, in fact, those higher standards that make them leaders.
6. It is the fact that leaders have power over others which demands that they
have higher standards.
7. Leaders should inspire their followers to aspire to higher character and
standards.
Events in politics on
both the local and national political scenes over the past 40 years prompt the
question: what should we expect from our leaders?
The events surrounding
John F. Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs, Lyndon Johnson's handling of the Viet Nam
War, Richard Nixon's Watergate cover-up, Gerald Ford's appearance of ineptitude
and clumsiness, Jimmy Carter's hostage crisis, Ronald Reagan and George Bush's
involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, Bill Clinton's Whitewater,
“travel-gate”, “file-gate”, campaign fund raising scandals and alleged sexual
escapades and George W. Bush’s handling of foreign affairs, illegal immigration
and domestic politics have brought questions of the character of the President
of the United States to national attention and debate.
In each incident, the
President has had his defenders and detractors. It is only about Bill Clinton
that the press and a majority of voters have stated that character doesn't
matter. With Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan and both Presidents Bush there was strong
criticism in charges that they lied or misled the public to cover wrongdoing on
their part. Clinton was accused, convicted of perjury and fined for lying while
under an oath to tell the truth. Today, the Democratic majorities in both
houses of Congress have produced rumblings of impeachment proceedings against
President Bush.
Does any of this
matter? If the end result is that the President is able to accomplish the
agenda of which he and his supporters approve and the republic remains intact
and strong, where is the harm? Some have even suggested, with some
justification, that if we expect to find leaders without flaws, or if their
flaws are going to be exposed to the public through the press and by the public
criticism of their detractors, who will want to run for any public office?
The implication for
liberals is that the only office holders would be "stuffed shirts"
and "goodie-two-shoes" who are humorless people and who — by their
very nature of being people who do very little wrong — would be unqualified to
be leaders. Conservatives demand that
their candidates be people with character.
But they face a "double standard" when compared with liberal
politicians.
What are the
implications of the public actually demanding that holders of public office be
persons of higher character, morality and integrity than the
"average" person?
Here is a list of
things that would characterize the leadership of such office holders:
1. Their colleagues,
constituents and the general public could rely on their truthfulness — at least
in public statements.
2. If our leaders did not lie to us, or mislead us in public statements and
actions, we could more easily forgive their occasional indulgence in their
weakness, whatever it is, so long as it does not embarrass the nation or
compromise the integrity of their office.
3. Other world leaders would recognize that they could depend on the word of
our president and national figures and the people of the world would respect
these men and women.
4. We could stop the insanity that surrounds the press frenzies during the
investigation of the private lives of public office holders.
5. We could count on the tendency of those with power to abuse their power and
bestow unwarranted favors on their friends and supporters to be minimized,
although not eliminated.
6. While we would always know that those who contribute large sums of money to
political campaigns are going to receive some consideration for those
contributions, such consideration would never jeopardize the national interest
nor would it ever compromise the integrity of the office.
7. We could eliminate the office of "special prosecutors" and rely on
the Justice Department of the United States and the local and state law
enforcement agencies to prosecute those office holders who commit such crimes
as would jeopardize the integrity of the operation of their offices.
We should demand that
those who seek public office at local, state and national levels be exceptional
men and women who, while having their flaws and weakness, would tell us the
truth in their campaigns and public statements while in office. We should
demand the assurance that anyone seeking public office has control of his or
her flaws and weakness to the extent that they will be able to do their duty
without embarrassing themselves or us by public exhibition of those
characteristics.
Those who hold public
office should appreciate the honor bestowed upon them and respect the office
they hold to the extent that — during their time in office — they do not
exhibit their flaws or give in to their weakness. This means that a person who
has exhibited flaws and weakness in the past could have those characteristics
overlooked so long as he or she maintained their integrity while in office.
If our
"leaders" are not "better" in character and morality than
the rest of us, they are not fit to lead us. It is those people who, in spite
of their flaws and weakness, have accomplished great things and brought praise
and respect to their offices, and have provided us with the role models and
heroes of our past.
If we don't demand
leadership and integrity of our office holders, we will have liars, thieves,
cheaters and persons of moral depravity in those offices and we will deprive
ourselves and our children of role models and heroes. If the public and our
leaders don't demand such integrity of those who seek public office, it will
eventually destroy our nation.
Clay Willis