What I Want In A President; Integrity, Honor, & Character

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.
– Dwight D. Eisenhower

There was only one candidate who has shown those qualities.

Almost four years ago this was written but it is still true today!

The single most important quality a president must have
Opinion by David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst
November 2, 2020

 One night after moving into a brand new White House in November 1800, then-President John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail and included a short prayer: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House, and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.”

Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt loved the prayer so much that in 1945 he had it engraved in the mantel above a stone fireplace in the State Dining Room. The Kennedys were so enamored that they had it carved into a new marble mantel in the early 1960s. In her memoir, Hillary Clinton expressed her hope that the prayer be extended to women of good character, too.

These sentiments about honor and wisdom, shared for over two centuries by our best presidents, are now at the center of this year’s presidential contest. We are in the midst of a political crisis, searching for leaders we can trust. There was a time in the mid-20th century when we took for granted that our presidents would be and would command respect. No longer.

That was true then and is still true today

First, our next president should set a new tone in the White House on day one, proclaiming that honesty, dignity and respect for others will be the new marching orders. In the aftermath of Watergate, when former President Richard Nixon was forced out in disgrace, I saw his successor – Gerald Ford – change the atmosphere within hours. Ford proclaimed “that truth is the glue” that holds us all together. He believed it and soon his followers did, too.

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So, the question before us is simple: Will the wise and the honest prevail over the next four years? The answer really rests with you, the voters. You are the ultimate stewards of our democracy.

American Family Radio wrote about integrity and character,

On August 28, I conducted a poll on X (formerly known as Twitter), asking, “As a voter, what is the single most important factor or quality you’re looking for in a presidential candidate?” The four choices were: Integrity/character; Good policies; Backbone; Unifier.

Of the 698 who responded to the poll, slightly over half (50.1 percent) voted for “Good policies”; 38.7 percent voted for “Integrity/character”; 10 percent voted for Backbone; and only 1.3 percent voted for Unifier.

When I asked my wife Nancy for her response, she said, “It has to be all four. I can’t vote for just one.”

One candidate has it it, one does not.

That being said, I do understand the argument for good policies, and I recognize the importance of having backbone and the power of being a unifier. But if I could choose only one characteristic of the person I was voting for (other than an overtly biblical value such as God-fearing), I would choose integrity and character.

So would I.

"Midshipman are persons of integrity" They stand for that which is right"
United States Naval Academy

The CNN article ends with,

In writing his magisterial biography of Harry Truman, historian David McCullough concluded that character is the single most important quality a president must have. I have learned over time that McCullough was right.

Young men and women on a White House staff and working in government departments and agencies take their cues from their boss, the president. If he or she is open and honest, that is the path they will walk; but if he or she acts more like a mobster, bullying and lying to those in his midst, some of them will eventually copy this behavior.

So, the question before us is simple: Will the wise and the honest prevail over the next four years? The answer really rests with you, the voters. You are the ultimate stewards of our democracy.

I’ll vote for the man with Integrity, Honor, & Character

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I'm away this weekend to a support group camp-out at a friend's place in Vermont this weekend.