The Perfect Leader

Deborah Venable

12/18/03

Now that the American people have less than a year before again being asked to choose our “leader” we can expect the race to heat up and get ugly as it always has. In fact, it already has. Some have still not accepted the results of the last big race and have gone out of their way to jinx any chance the man had to prove himself worthy of another turn in the most powerful office in the world. On the other hand, some have turned a blind eye to choices he made and actions he took that no one in their right mind should support. To put it as succinctly as one can – President Bush is not perfect. Big news flash! But, then, any leader is only as good or as perfect as those he leads. This is something that I would bet seldom crosses the mind of anyone running for that high office or the electorate at large. Unfortunately, the race for the presidency has become an extremely ugly affair simply because politics is such an ugly business.

Let us examine just how a politician running for any office in this country must view those he would depend upon for support to get elected and then subjugate during his term in power. We are seen as a people with our hand out in expectation for the price of our vote. Depending on our status or political value, we are considered either potentially helpful or politically dangerous to the politician’s power machine. Most politicians these days do not have a set of values that they will absolutely defend and uphold no matter the political cost, so they can be highly manipulative in aligning their constituents both before and after election. The “say one thing and do another” syndrome has infected all of American politics and no one is truly held to task for it. Therefore, we are viewed as either naively forgiving or totally expendable.

If we examine the motives of the individuals who would run for high public office, we find a plethora of professed reasons. They would include such lofty ideals of being able to “make a difference” to the honest idea of service to do the most good. For the vast majority of Americans, however, I would guess that few of us would be willing to trade places with those who end up with their lives under a scrutiny that few could endure. The perception of power does not come close to the real thing – not when you are talking about the presidency of this country. How often do you suppose this individual can be spontaneous and act on a whim? The real power is truly in the eyes of the beholder. The problem is that far too many average Americans perceive a power greater than is really present in the office of the presidency. The man is, after all, still just a man – a man with vulnerabilities and always something to prove.

Thinking back to America’s very first president, we should not lose sight of the fact that the people would have crowned him king had he allowed it. And why not? He had already proven himself to be capable of great leadership, personal sacrifice and hardship, and motivation to the military forces he led to victory. People in the course of human history had earned crowns for demonstrating far less worthiness.

For an excellent account of the man most responsible for molding the character of this country, please read America's First Hero – well worth the short time it takes to read. If there could ever exist a “perfect leader”, George Washington would come closer to deserving the title than any have since. I believe he knew that America would be hard pressed to retain most of his lofty idealism and unquestioned character, but I also believe she has retained far more than she might have. Is that something that all Americans can be proud of? I would think so. No matter the rampage of our enemies – foreign and domestic – who would tack indecent motives on our every action and compare us to evil empires, there is one inescapable fact that remains. The vast majority of American citizens, (and many who are not), would rather be American citizens than world citizens of any other country because they know that life is better here and that the American Dream is truly attainable. A tiny spark of the spirit and character of America’s First Hero still lives in every one of us that understand this country.

If we want more perfect leaders, we must be more perfect citizens. We must find that which is valuable in the would-be leader’s character and stop looking for and expecting only the worst that the political process has to offer. If we expect the worst, we will surely find it. If we have not learned the lesson by now that any president of this country should also be respecting of and admired by the military machine he will control, we are truly ignorant on the subject of preserving liberty. Carving up America’s military might in the name of some presumed attainable “peaceful” liberty for America’s future is not a platform that will support a great, (perfect or not), leader. America’s liberty has always been a hard fought victory over those who would crush us and snatch away our sovereignty. This is not an empirical view, as some timid souls would have us believe, it is simply a tried and proven fact in our history. It should always be a top priority in the choosing of our leaders that they can and will protect America’s sovereignty.

Many will look to the campaign promises of governmental provisions for the needy and guarantees of economic stability as the most important issues to consider. In reality, a more perfect leader will not make those promises, for those gold rings are not his to give. A citizenry establishes its own economic stability and does better at it without governmental interference in every aspect of commerce. As for provisions for the needy, that should most definitely be separated from the affairs of state because it is the job of the churches and voluntary charitable organizations. Funny how so few citizens see this as the true “separation of church and state” issue that it is. Government should never be in the business of charity in any form or at any time, yet America has grown to expect just that and demand consideration of government charity as a price for political votes. A more perfect leader would shun promises of handling the personal business of individuals in any way as hallowed ground better left alone for the preservation of individual sovereignty.

So, the campaign will get nastier as the year drags on because the people who will be under consideration for the job of “leader” are not perfect and the electorate is certainly far from it. The various partisan factions will proclaim that votes will be wasted in attempts to elect the lesser evil or to cast votes toward non-established idealists, but none of them that we will have to choose from will be perfect. Few of them would consider turning down a crown if offered or walk away from office without regret after refusing to set a larger precedent than two terms. Few of them will care to make sure that the Constitution is “sacredly maintained” for a future America that maintains a perpetual union of “brotherly affection.” That was the heart of a warrior who uttered such profound hope for his fellow countrymen – a warrior who was also the soul of civility in his role as the most perfect leader we have ever known. Too bad THAT George won’t be among the choices next year, but perhaps there is one that will end up being the most perfect of the bunch. And perhaps there will be enough citizens close enough to perfect to recognize the more important qualities necessary to lead without doing further harm to individual and national sovereignty. Those are the important questions that should be posed to our next would-be leader.

An intelligent American electorate should not demand or even expect campaign promises and should be wary if they are offered. We should look to the heart and soul of the contender for a fierce warrior in defense of good character and dedication to moral decency. We should look for the most perfect defender of liberty or we will surely accept our own doom and go down without a fight. Leaders can only follow the expectations of those they lead.

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