The President of the United States is the FACE of our Country
And a lesson to our children of what it means to be an American.
The President of the United States is “Head of State” as well as chief executive officer of the government. In this role the occupant of the Office serves as the public face of the nation. Our Presidents stand for, represent, the country not only to the world, but in an important sense to the people they serve. Think of Washington and Lincoln, of Roosevelt and Eisenhauer and Reagan.
I was in Africa when John F. Kennedy was President. I watched his inaugural address with a group of students at Makerere College in East Africa. They stood and cheered. They mourned when he was assimilated. His picture was on the wall of many homes. In their eyes what he stood for was what American was.
Similarly, as children growing up in America, we were taught to honor our Presidents. No matter their party affiliations, we looked up to them.
Young children cannot help but see the occupant of the office as an example of how to live. Children do not see the world as nuanced shades of grey.
Next to the flag, our Presidents are the most visible symbol of our government. We pray in church for their health and success. They are role models. Their portraits hang on school room walls and in public buildings.
We tell stories about them to illustrate moral lessons.
I believe this matters. We should instill patriotism in the hearts of our children. They should grow up proud to be Americans, proud to be led by a person who exemplifies all that is good about this land and the spirit of its people.
Didn’t the election of Obama tell us something about our country that we were thirsting to hear?
Furthermore, it is important that all of us see “authority” as a positive force, as legitimate, as worth following. It is not a matter of deference. I am not talking about peasants lining a street and doffing their cloth caps. There will be times when we will need to be inspired to serve our country, to respond to a call for united action.
The moral stature of the President may prove in the long run to be as important as his or her policy choices. This is not a trivial role of a President and we should consider it when we vote.
Substat gives you two choices to comment. You can write directly to me or leave comment for everyone to see. and comment on, that reads the blog. I try to answer both and am glad to carry on a conversation. Sometimes I am unintentionally obscure in what I write. I welcome a chance to rephrase or even revise what I was trying to say.
I’m glad when you think these short columns are worth sharing. I don’t want to “convince” anyone; I do want to jar a little and hopefully to start a new train of thought.