While most Americans understand that who we elect as President is important, we don’t typically understand just how vitally important the election really is. Because of this, we do not take selecting a president seriously enough. In fact, we have thought and acted very superficially in creating the standards for those seeking the highest office.
Because of this lack of serious attention, Americans have typically failed to identify and enumerate a clear set of high standards and qualities that we the people should expect, admire, and strongly desire in our President – as well as our Senators and Congressmen. Today the expectation for the presidency (as well as the House and Senate), has become so lowered that we have forgotten to think in terms of greatness..
In truth the President must be a complete man – one who is unified in mind, and spirit, and who has a dynamic, holistic understanding of life and broad vision for freedom.
The following is a list of qualities that are essential for a president to not only possess to a high degree, but to earnestly strive to have in greater measure in order to achieve greatness in his role as President. It is important to realize that governments are run by “men and not by angels.” No presidential candidate or President will ever be near perfect—true greatness comes when human preparation meets grace. But it is absolute that a president must exert great effort to continually grow personally and spiritually while he is in office.
If it is believed by the people that there is a lack of potential greatness among the choices for President in any given election cycle, then the people must turn to the one who is most adequate to hold the country together while greatness is being cultivated in other future presidential candidates.
In evaluating this list, it is important to realize that these qualities are all interrelated and interdependent, each one complements the others and builds on the whole persona and capability of the President.
The 24 Qualities of a Great Leader and a Great President
- Spiritually True (Active, Strong Faith)
- Strong in Character
- Wise
- Humble
- Defender of Natural Rights, Civil Liberties, & the Constitution
- Passionate
- Creative
- Patriotic
- Vision Driven
- Courageous
- Personable
- Smart
- Team-Oriented
- Knowledgeable
- Independent Thinker (Holistically Minded)
- Effective Communicator
- Flexible
- Experienced
- Socially Conscious & Compassionate
- Environmentalist
- Fiscally Efficient & Sound
- Problem Solver
- Inspiring
- Progressive (Committed to Growth)
Spiritually True (Active, Strong Faith)
By far and away the most important quality a president can have is a strong abiding faith in God. No greater preparation can a man have for the highest office in the land than to have been battle-tested and to have been found an overcomer and warrior in the realm of spiritual warfare. When a president is spiritually buoyant he will have the necessary optimism and faith to impart to the people the goodness and hope that is inherent in the dream of America.
There is no possibility for a president to be a great leader without a strong connection to God, because without God, an individual is left out with his own resources and strength- which are not even adequate to running his own life to full potential, let alone the whole nation.
Any person running for the Presidency or the House or Senate who thinks that they can govern the greatest nation on earth at any time, let alone during the most complex and difficult time in history apart from a connection to God and a working knowledge of the Scriptures is delusional and arrogant beyond measure. Such an individual can only lead the people towards chaos. And more importantly, any generation of Americans who thinks that the quality of their President’s faith doesn’t really matter because of the false belief that the office is a secular one and that there are no spiritual demands in running a nation makes a tremendous mistake, and in the process of making that mistake, demonstrates an almost total lack of understanding of both what the office of the American Presidency really is, and what true inspired leadership is all about. Such a people are set up to select a straw man that is not needed rather than an iron man that is. They will be putting their trust in someone who cannot deliver in real terms and who is destined to fall short of the gold standard of American presidents.
The spiritual life of a leader will ultimately determine everything vital about him, and inform his judgment on all important matters. As suggested in the section entitled “America’s Greatest Deception,” future presidents will inherit a whole collection of problems beyond human capability to solve, and will not be in office for more than a moment in time before running headlong into new and unheard of perplexities.
If a president cannot demonstrate true loyalty to the Creator first, by at the very least supporting basic moral, spiritual, and biblical values, it is sure that he will also be disloyal to the people in their ultimate needs and betray the country at critical moments. In fact when a president promotes any agenda that goes against the essential tenets of God and life, he has already sold the people and the nation out, and even though the consequences may not be apparent at first, disaster is sure to follow.
Even when a secular leader seems solid for a time, sooner or later his lack of spiritual preparedness will show forth. In these unprecedented, incredibly difficult, and insane times in which he must govern, a president’s faith and character will be significantly tested over and over again. There will be numerous situations and decisive times in the life and course of our nation that will overwhelm the individual who lacks faith; and with only his own resources to rely on, he will either falter and retreat to political correctness, or panic and act stubbornly or foolishly.
The man of great faith, on the other hand, will remain steady and strong while tethered to the power and light, and have the composure to see the clear way to guide the country towards its highest good through all forms of adversity, uncertainty, and other extreme forms of pressure.
- A president who is morally and spiritually compromised will also compromise the moral and spiritual values of the nation. When a nation’s moral and spiritual values are compromised, the nation is put at risk from enemies both from within and without.
- A spiritually strong president is the greatest asset to a country in terms of leadership because he will have the foresight and fortitude to steer the country in the right direction- of which direction the positive results can only be realized after the fact. It is this demand for foresight gained through faith that explains why so few leaders lead from the cutting edge, and why most lead from behind.
- The greatest American presidents all had a clear understanding of God, and in times of national importance they consistently directed the nation toward the light. (These included Washington, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, F. D. Roosevelt, Reagan, etc.)
Strong in Character
Character relates to the solidity of the virtue, faith, and goodness at the core of an individual. In order for a society to be healthy and stable, it must first place a premium on character, for without character it is impossible for society to function in a healthy manner since every interaction within society, to some degree or another, is dependent on the character of its people. In fact, without people of good character, the world would degenerate into an unimaginable hell, as everything would have to come under constant evaluation and suspicion.
Once character is lost as a central root in society, it is only a matter of time before the people suffer precipitously. This is because character is the conduit between the people and a common higher life that can be collectively drawn from, be established by, and remain rooted in.
The President of the United States is epitomic of the people, and therefore it is paramount that he display to a high degree the ideal character that enlightened citizenry should desire.
In this, the President is an elder – leader of the nation, and his commitment to truth and goodness are the standards by which we the people should also measure his fitness to serve in the highest office.
A president of character begins with a desire to strengthen the overall integrity of the country, as well as a desire to encourage moral excellence among the people as a means of promoting the general welfare. He demonstrates and enumerates the manifold benefits of being a nation of character and virtue, and inspires the people to be greater citizens. Only a president of strong character can ultimately gain the respect of the country and influence the people to strive for the noble ideals of the nation. A president who lacks character cannot ultimately gain the respect of the country, and therefore cannot bring the people together at the highest level.
- Any free and enlightened society has a mandate and necessity to place a premium on character as a core value.
- In a free society, as opposed to any form of totalitarian rule, the people are essentially responsible for governing themselves which shifts the balance of control from the external automatic role of government to the internal, independent rule of the people.
- The President must be a man of character because he is the highest representative-statesman of the people; he must embody the best noble qualities that our nation’s people should aspire to.
Wise
Wisdom is far deeper than having information about things, it is knowing the inner nature and workings of things; it is understanding the relationships between the living elements of life itself.
It takes years of living with an open mind and strong heart to learn the simplicity and power that wisdom has to offer. And ideally, a president will have been honed for many years before seeking the office of the presidency.
A president must see and understand the blueprint of life and health if he is ever to lead this great nation with clarity, and connect the whole country to what is good, true, and right. By understanding the principles of life and health, he will be able to direct the nation in paths that are sustainable and truly productive. A man who has been prepared by wisdom is a man who has been constantly open to the unity of truth, and in all matters has exercised both his mind and soul in order to effect proper ends of that truth.
- A president who has wisdom sees the essence of a problem or opportunity in whole terms, and is therefore able to accurately assess the strongest course of action based on the fullness of truth.
- Many of today’s leaders and politicians create as many problems as they solve because their actions and sequence of ideas are superficial and lack the sustaining strength of wisdom, and therefore lead the people away from the very truth that they are ignorant of, and into the error that they don’t have to experience.
- Wisdom is a great guardian of office governing, because wisdom applied to life’s most difficult situations literally saves untold amounts of time, money, and life.
Humble
The first reality that any intelligent and enlightened man should know before even running for the office of the Presidency is that the job is essentially an impossible one, and is so beyond him, and that without humility –which attracts the aid of the heavens- he will entirely be overwhelmed and rendered ineffective.
A president who has humility is an incredibly powerful leader because humility reveals to the individual both the awesome responsibility of leading the American people, as well as the sheer honor of doing so.
It is time that the concept of servant-leader is emphasized in America again when it comes to our elected officials. Today the kind of people who get into politics often do so not because they predominantly have the people’s best interests at heart, or have something highly beneficial to contribute to the nation, but because they wish to exercise authority over people, and are on their own ego trips- wishing to contribute to their own coffers.
- An arrogant president is someone who will miss the glorious moment and opportunity to serve the people as assuredly as a dullard will miss the exquisiteness of beauty.
- A humble president is far more likely to seek out essential assistance and Godly advice than a president who is not humble.
- Arrogance in a leader almost entirely disables his ability to truly serve the people.
Defender of Natural Rights, Civil Liberties, & the Constitution
The cornerstone of understanding American freedom is that it exists within a context of purposeful living that supports life, liberty, and happiness. What constitutes natural rights is that they are given by God, and cannot be taken away by Government.
Therefore, in order to have a nation that thrives, we must protect our natural freedoms against the encroachment of unnatural laws that would compete against our natural rights. While we live in a free country, it does not mean that the Constitution was set up to protect the violating of moral and spiritual laws. On the contrary, it was set up to protect people who live according to natural and spiritual law. Our Bill of Rights provides for the protection for all sorts of people in all sorts of circumstances. This latitude should not be confused with the original intent of the founders, which was to protect natural rights over and against all other considerations.
The Founders understanding of natural rights and civil liberties can be summarized in the following three points:
- All of our natural rights and freedoms first and foremost are dependent on the reality that they come from an ultimate ruling authority. The First Amendment is established by this truth. Without the freedom to worship and acknowledge God, all other rights are threatened. Therefore if Government is allowed to remove the giver of freedom (God) from the national consciousness, especially the educational and legal systems, then the people will eventually lose all their freedom.
- If the people allow the Government to take away their first freedom as enumerated in the First Amendment, eventually they will lose all their freedoms.
- If the people don’t understand the purpose of freedom, neither will they understand how to use their freedom to its maximum potential.
- The most important right to protect is that of spiritual and religious freedom. No liberty is currently under greater assault than our religious freedoms.
- A president who does not understand the source of natural rights will fail to understand their importance in relation to the creative and spiritual well-being of the people. He will, in his ignorance, confuse them with rights “granted by the Government” and fail to protect them accordingly- whether through his rhetoric, court appointees, or executive action.
- A president that protects natural rights will promote the greatest safeguard to a just, free, and orderly society because the people will be protected according to the highest purpose of the creator for man- the right and ability to pursue life, liberty, and happiness (see John 10:10).
Passionate
America is tired of passionless politicians who care more about their politically correct agendas than they do about building the stability and prosperity of the country for the sake of the people. When a president has passion, he exerts energy from the core of his being in the execution of his office. It is his passion that burns away the political correctness or selfish ambition that renders most politicians ineffectual. This fire makes him human, and in his humanity, he is able to lead with true heart and soul.
- A president of passion finds the truth, lays hold of the truth, and leads the country in that truth.
- A president that is lacking in passion will eventually be easily driven backwards, and cornered into compromised complicity.
- Passion ensures authenticity, and authenticity allows the people to trust in what they see in their President.
Creative
All too often a president or presidential candidate is identified according to party affiliation or some subcategory within their party. Terms such as conservative, liberal, moderate, etc. tell only a fraction of who they are or what they are capable of. The real question should be, “Is an individual’s creativity consistent with the first principles of life and government?” It is that distinction of creativity that enables a leader to access the full spectrum of social, political, and economic genius.
Creativity in and of itself connotes positive, useful action, and therefore encompasses both spiritual and natural talent and knowledge. Therefore if a leader is highly creative as well as ethical, no traditional definition of him will be adequate to describe him, and a new, more enlightened one will evolve – one that is positive and expansive, rather than negative and contracting. In this, the negative associations with traditional labeling will give way to a more enlightened, radical, and true to form expression of these terms, while their counterfeit definitions and expression should be rejected.
- A creative president is someone who will lead in a movement of national renewal, because creativity militates against stagnation.
- Creative brilliance is not often associated with the presidency, but innovation combined with a sense of artistry and craftsmanship is precisely what is needed to throw off the old limitations of stale leadership that we have become accustomed to in our time.
- Creativity closes the distance between various competing ideas between parties and within parties. Creativity reveals truth and opens up new possibilities and evolves new pathways to higher collaboration, which destroys the old gridlock that is so commonplace among our elected officials.
Patriotic
A patriotic president is someone who connects the people to the unifying core ideals of faith, family, and country.
Our patriotism is a fundamental love for America and belief in her inherent goodness and place of exceptionalism in the world. In this, American patriotism is a special sense of loyalty and pride in our country, not simply because it is our country, but because it is a country worthy of loyalty and pride.
It would seem obvious that a president should be patriotic, but in truth not all political leaders are necessarily so. People get into politics for all sorts of reasons, and some have little to do with serving the country. There are those who spend the country for their own advancement, while others who spend themselves for the country’s advancement.
While it is possible to still be a good person and not love America, it is impossible to be a good president and not love America. An unpatriotic president will ultimately undermine the entire country in pursuit of their personal political causes (even the legitimate ones) because they don’t first love the broader vision of American more than they love their own limited vision of political ideology.
A patriotic president is someone who truly loves America; he feels the honor and purity of our nation’s ideals deep within his being. American virtue runs through his veins and the national legacy soars in his mind. He does not ignore the wrongs of our nation, but believes that the best way to correct these wrongs is to get the country back to, and deeper into, its founding values and highest course.
- One nation under God is the strongest rallying cry that only a truly patriotic president can give to his countrymen because it places the people under the highest source of power, goodness, and truth.
- When a president is patriotic, he inspires patriotism and selflessness in the people. He binds them to the beautiful and lofty values and virtues that befit our nation.
- If a people elect a president who is not patriotic, the people will increasingly lose the love they have for their own country and grow colder to its idealism. This will lead to a greater number of individuals unwilling to protect and support America, and instead, simply use and consume the country without replenishing it.
Vision Driven
A true leader with vision is someone who sees the potential of a country and knows how to get to that potential. He knows what it takes to get the country from a lower position to a higher one in any practical area of common life. He understands the superiority of what could be rather than what currently is. He measures, and then sets the whole course of action for the country to follow in order for it to get better in all areas.
He therefore is able to override the human propensity to aim for popularity at the expense of greatness; he understands that positive change is essential, but not easy. He motivates and instructs the people to overcome the obstacles and resistance—both internally and externally- that are set against him.
- A president who is vision driven uses his office as a means to communicate to the people the most positive and abundant agendas for the people. He consistently promotes the necessary changes within Government and society that allow for the increase and total prosperity of society, while simultaneously eliminating dysfunctionality.
- To be vision driven is to win the competition of what is good, right, and best for the country over and against what is politically correct, insipid, and unhealthy for the country.
- When a president lacks vision, he lacks the ability to compel true effective and efficient action, both for himself and others.
Courageous
At the very heart of America is courage. It was a courageous generation that brought America into existence, and it will take future generations of courageous Americans to uphold the country’s greatness.
Courage is necessary to promote all that is good and true. In a world where good and evil plainly co-exist, courage is essential because every force of evil along the spectrum of human affairs is increasingly wearing down the moral and spiritual strength of the people and the country.
A president’s courage is going to be tested, there is no way around it. He will either remain in position to strengthen the country, or he will sell it out at critical moments, and that betrayal will be for purposes largely unknown to the American people. The consequences of him doing so will not necessarily be experienced immediately, but will be devastatingly so in the near future.
- A courageous president will take on the enemies of America—both internally and externally- in a way that an ordinary leader never could.
- A president who lacks courage in doing what is right and good before God and man is also a coward, and a coward is an easy pawn for use by evil.
- Courage precedes greatness, because greatness demands the strength to overcome the incessant competition against it.
Personable
There are two kinds of people who get into politics: one who uses people to accumulate power to himself, and the other is he who uses power to create quality of life for the people. At the core of any president must be a fundamental love for the people, and a great desire for their good.
It is said a president that will harmonize with any citizen who is reasonable and good, and whose positive energy will displace the animus which so often charges the air in politics will have no energy to fool it.
Ultimately, it is a president’s personableness and warmth that emanates from their soul that people most easily connect to, and identify with. An American president is truly the people’s President because he belongs to none other.
- It is through the heart and soul of a natural leader that the people are touched in real terms and connected to their President. It is his voice, his calm, and his strength that reassure the people and gives them confidence when the nation collectively faces emergencies on the one hand, or experiences deep poignancy on the other. There is no faking these times, a president is either integrated with the people’s hopes and dreams or he is not.
- A president who is transparent and likeable will automatically have a huge advantage in getting critical things done for the country—as he is more apt to navigate through a myriad of special interests and opposition.
- A leader who understands that winning friends and influencing people (without compromising their values) is 90 percent of the battle when it comes to promoting polices both at home and abroad. It is the fundamentals of human relations that transcend all cultures and countries that best resonates with people, and puts a leader well on his way to being successful at foreign policy. Typically, a leader who lacks reasonableness also lacks warmth, and has an underlying unhealthy personality that leaves a trail of ruination because he will inevitably put politics and personal gain above the people’s interests.
Smart
A truly smart person has a combination of intelligence, common sense, and spiritual discernment. His mind has the capacity to make meaningful connections with core life relationships in order to produce positive, sustainable outcomes.
A smart president therefore comprehends what is happening in and around him and with the country. With keen insight he is able to apply a certain skillful knowledge of what to do in each particular situation. He has a mind that is trained to know truth and apportion it accurately according to authentic needs.
He has a mind that is trained to know truth and apportion it accurately according to authentic needs.
Consistent with this ability is the acumen and desire to surround himself with the brightest and best people in all positions of leadership and advisement. This foresight is essential due to the complexity, diversity, and enormity of the situations and information that the President must process and act upon. In order for a smart president to get the most out of his intelligence, he must be properly paired with other very smart people who come alongside him in order to produce a geometric effect of that intelligence.
- A smart president will save the country from astronomical amounts of chaos, waste, and stupidity because he acts according to first principles and true design. In so doing, he does not allow himself to get cornered by political correctness.
- A president who lacks native intelligence and common sense will make so many blunders that he will be incapable of acting ahead of the curve. Such a president is likely to be taken advantage of by a whole variety of entities and people that are smarter and more cunning than he is, but that are not as ethical.
- A smart president is able to educate the whole public in the various aspects of American life because he is able to understand the nuances of the challenges that face the nation.
Team-Oriented
In order for a president to be successful in real terms he must be able to work well with others. The American presidency is not a monarchy, but a position of leadership within an overall structure of collaborative government. While the President is a leader, he is nevertheless a singular figure who must work effectively with a healthy congress in order to be productive.
The Presidency of the United States is really a venture with the American people, and therefore a venture with the many strata of human interactions across a wide range of expressions that make up both society and government.
- A president who is committed to teamwork proves his unselfishness as well as his wisdom, and is more capable to take on the people’s causes than what he alone could possibly assume. Teamwork at the highest level of government reveals the first evidence of a nation’s functionality, and conversely, a lack of teamwork displays a nation’s first evidence of dysfunctionality.
- A president that does not understand the necessity of effective teamwork, or does not put forth the effort to establish it, will quickly become overwhelmed and remain limited.
- A president must also be accountable to the Constitution and a conduit to the nation’s honor and collective history in order to be a vital part of its positive lineage.
Knowledgeable
An observant person will notice that our nation’s energy, focus, and resources are spent on the same problems and needs year after year. The same degree of limited information and knowledge produces the same level of inefficient and unproductive responses. A knowledgeable leader eschews conventional wisdom and knowledge– which has often been unsuccessfully applied to various situations and relies on a far greater mastery of information to produce the kind of permanent, sustainable increase and change that leaders who operate without that greater understanding never do.
Furthermore, a leader who knows in depth about the world around him, and understands the various nuances of life issues can address these issues in the most accurate and effectual way for the people.
- The world and society are stuck in the same rut of dysfunctional behavior because the true knowledge about health, life, inspiration, and spiritual principle, are not applied to governance- issues such as healthcare, the economy, education, defense, etc. Therefore, an effective president will take time and learn as much as he can about these disciplines.
- A president who values knowledge will also choose cabinet leaders and advisors who also are knowledgeable and well-studied in foundational areas of life in order to safeguard the highest course of action for the nation. Conversely, a president who lacks knowledge will often choose cabinet members who also lack knowledge, thereby guaranteeing a recycling of flawed strategy and policy.
- A president who has not taken the time to truly learn about the core issues that surround the nation, will always be subjected to the wrong kind of advice and faulty information, which leads to systemic chaos. The unnatural control of any public institution is generally preceded by misinformation disseminated among the populace.
Independent Thinker (Holistically Minded)
A great American president needs to have the general welfare of our wonderful country as his leading special interest. A great leader needs to affirm the truth and advance right action whenever and from wherever it manifests in the nation.
The goal of a true leader and great President, when it comes to his gathering of source information, is to arrive at the truth in all matters of consequence concerning the governance and life of the nation, and to practically apply that truth in the appropriate policies—regardless of party loyalties and pressure from other interests.
A holistic person is one who views life according to its true unified and comprehensive nature. A president who has a holistic mindset understands that every action is interrelated, and therefore knows that in order to develop real solutions to complex problems, advance effective policies, and truly promote the general welfare, everything that his administration does must correlate with the first principles of life.
If a president does not see the big picture of life in real terms, he will create imbalance by favoring one side of an equation at the expense of the other, and thereby inevitably create injustice for those who otherwise were perfectly within the natural and spiritual order to receive justice.
If a president is tethered to the ideas and thoughts of his party constituents that may seek to control him, he will lose his ability to be objective and vigorously open-minded on any particular issue. In this, he will falter before beggarly elements, as this unnatural influence is inconsistent with arriving at the truth or best outcome.
- American politics need to be far more bipartisan in order to be healthy. The key to bipartisan health is for each party to ensure its own soundness. It does the country no good for compromises between the two parties when one or both parties have fundamental character flaws leading to a resistance of truth and excellence.
- A president who is an independent thinker is open to all the brilliance and talent for the benefit of the nation that can be accessed from every credible source that is available from within the nation, regardless of its political or social origins. This openness is the only safeguard against his office from being mentally and intellectually hijacked or hindered.
- If the President is a truth seeker, he will set the example in this regard for the whole nation. Never on his watch will he allow the kind of pettiness and manipulation that we are subjected to constantly… and of which characteristics are so entirely unbecoming of an honorable person and honorable leader.
Effective Communicator
Communication is the key to making others know and feel what you know and feel; it is the skill of relaying precise information that is vital to life and effectual in meeting practical needs.
The essence of communication for a president is a driving desire to connect with the American people, as well as other leaders in a profound and clear way.
By the very nature of his office, a president is essentially the country’s spokesman. However, he must be determined to win friends and influence people by firstly making sure that he is on the right side of God and history in matters of importance, and secondly by tenaciously making sure that he is heard on real terms by real people in a whole way. He cannot allow the agenda of a biased media, close minded political opposition, or an insincere portion of the populace to dictate to the rest of the country their narrative on who he is or what he is actually saying.
- In a world where misinformation and dishonesty is increasingly becoming the norm, it is essential that the communication of leaders be all the more honest, timely, and straightforward.
- The American people are hungry and ready for a president who will communicate true values in an uncompromised way.
- A president who fails to communicate effectively opens the door for rumor and misinformation to spread, leaves greatness to chance, and allows for misunderstanding to flourish.
Flexible
Today the world is more destabilized, dangerous, and complex than at any time in history. Information travels from around the globe instantaneously, and innumerable challenges and perilous situations are fluid and ever unpredictable.
With the world looking to America for leadership in these times, a flexible consciousness and the ability to rapidly process information is critical for the president to have in order to adapt in real time and manage multi-dimensional situations. It is flexibility coupled with spiritual perception that provides a great president the ability to leverage maximum strength at every moment and from every position.
- No president who took the necessary time to reflect on what adjustments needed to be made (even to the most carefully thought out plan), according to changing circumstances, ever regretted doing so.
- Remaining open at critical moments that require strategic maneuvering can literally make all the difference in the outcome of national and world affairs.
- An inflexible president is a leader who will stubbornly and ignorantly drive a country deeper into disastrous situations when it is a change or modification of direction that is needed.
Experienced
Excellence is the first source of useful experience. True experience is not measured by merely being in a particular position over a period of time, as anybody can occupy a job in an undistinguished fashion. And being expert at political correctness and executing mediocrity are not advantages when it comes to preparing for greatness.
True experience is gained from being in a deeper place of rightful achievement accomplished against opposition. Therefore, the experienced person is a tested person- one proved by the refining fires of life. He is one that has overcome the same pressure that has tried every leader of true worth down through the ages. And while both the office of the presidency and our times are unique, the forces of human nature and spiritual warfare are not. Therefore, the best indicator of experience is proven success in the dynamics of actual life situations that required leadership in real time and according to true purposes.
- The way a leader responds in one set of circumstances is a good way of knowing how they will respond in a similar set of circumstances. Putting a weak or an unproven person in real life situations in the highest office of the nation is to literally gamble with our future.
- Sometimes it is better to have someone whose experience includes time spent outside of a political setting in order to gain the necessary life skills to be used inside a political setting.
- An experienced person, one tested and found true, will prevent an inestimable amount of waste, lost, and suffering.
Socially Conscious and Compassionate
There is a difference between social issues and social problems, and they should not be confused when it comes to political action and social service. Addressing social problems centers on meeting the legitimate needs of the people and dealing with the specific challenges and conditions that are detrimental to human life, and that create the problems within society in the first place. Social issues, on the other hand, often relate to special interests, trends, and movements– situations that include individual behavior, free will, and personal responsibility within a social context. These issues center on wants, as opposed to actual natural needs.
It is one thing to be socially aware, and another thing to have true compassion for what one is aware of. Social awareness allows an individual to know about certain problems within society, while compassion motivates one to act forcefully and effectively on behalf of the people affected by these problems. The concept of America as a Christian nation has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats throughout history in the context of advancing social justice issues.
A truly compassionate president is one who has the drive to act above politics and political correctness and to meet the people at the point of their true, natural needs. He deeply empathizes with the people, and in that empathy he will see the underlying realities to the problems that face them and the country, as well as the steps needed to bring about permanent solution.
A conscientious president can best help solve our social problems by helping to create the conditions within society that prevent them in the first place. This includes:
- Encouraging the free expression of the religious faith, which in turn positively impacts the whole culture.
- Freeing up charities and faith-based organizations to do what they do best.
- Encouraging and inspiring philanthropy and volunteerism in America.
- Discouraging all behavior that leads to vice and personal social ruin.
- Addressing true inequalities as opposed to manufacturing fake ones in the hopes of garnering superficial political support.
- As long as the conditions remain existent within society that promote and drive poverty, crime, immorality, addiction, depression, etc., no amount of governmental intervention will be effective.
- A great president can inspire the people to be great, and it is the largesse of the American people that will have the greatest long term impact on society in terms of civility, social functionality and social cohesion.
- A socially unaware or dispassionate president may still accomplish much, but he will have missed what would have made him special, which is social compassion—one of the most fundamental elements of the Gospel.
Environmentalist
Because the environment and our natural resources are a the primal basis for life and health, the proper care of them is one of the few absolutes of national leadership that a great president, and indeed all members of Congress, must be knowledgeable of and active in.
Protecting the environment is of equal importance in the long run with “providing for the common defense,” because the polluting and destroying of our environment- which man has continuously and definitively proven to do- ultimately affects the same ends as a hostile insurgency. This reality becomes apparent when one is able to see in real terms the loss of human health, life, and potential that is directly related to a corrupted, polluted environment.
- Environmental protection first and foremost translates into human life protection. Understood in these terms, protecting the environment will not be optional or open to political debate.
- A president who is a true environmentalist has a holistic understanding of the environment, and is not given to pseudo-science, special interests, or political correctness when it comes to issues specific to the environment.
- In our modern world there are far too many polluting agencies that destroy our planet and that cause our environment to be an unhealthy one. Because of this, the President must be proactive, both in word and deed, in protecting the air, water, and land that the people depend on for their very health and life.
Fiscally Efficient and Sound
Because of the size and scope of the federal government, as well as that of the country, the distance between labor and the result of labor is too great to be understood and managed by anybody other than the wisest and most conscientious leaders.
It is a principle of personal spending that the more effort that one puts in the making of their money, the less likely they will waste that money, conversely the less effort one puts in the making of their money, the more likely they will waste that money. This principle transfers perfectly to government’s acquisition and use of the people’s money.
The problem in America today is that there is a tremendous disconnect between the labor of the American people and what that labor translates into in terms of real value produced by government spending.
A bloated government will typically misappropriate the national treasury because the greater the separation between he who earns the money and he who spends the money will cause a greater separation in how efficiently the money is spent. An unfit government is good at collecting and spending money, but not earning it.
Money spent wisely by the government translates into improving the overall standard of living for the people, and the quality of the infrastructure of the country. This is because what strengthens the whole also strengthens the parts- when these parts are properly connected; and what strengthens the parts also benefits the whole because the whole is dependent on the parts.
As a leading influence on the economy, the President has the responsibility and the opportunity to ensure that the people’s money is spent on what is truly productive and consistent with the spiritual laws of increase, which means that any money spent in the name of progress that does not promote systemic improvement and sustainability is money that is ultimately wasted. A president and his administration’s fiscal efficiency is not based on how little is spent, but how much is created by what is spent.
- A great president first and foremost invests in making the economy sound and healthy in order to provide a wellspring for the people. When the people’s basic monetary needs are met through a healthy, non-oppressive economy, they are free to create more wealth and quality of life through higher levels of productivity and creativity.
- A great president and wise Congress understand that the capital used by the government comes from the fruit of the people’s labors, and therefore they must use that capital in such a way that helps foster a true quality of life return for the people.
- Every dollar that the government spends that goes to merely managing problems rather than going towards permanently solving those problems, represents poor use of money and a missed opportunity for growth.
Problem Solver
The ability to solve real problems in real time is a special skill and talent that so many career politicians lack today. When a politician tries to solve problems without adhering to sound spiritual principles, he ends up not only further exacerbating the original problem, but leads the country into other problems as well.
Only a president with strong moral and spiritual values, common sense, and courage can be a true problem solver, because solving problems requires that one act counter to the political pressures and dysfunctionality that created the problems in the first place. A politically correct president can be neither a transformative problem solver or a true leader, because his duplicity will undermine that which is spiritually correct- which is the action of strength, truth, and goodness soundly applied to all problems. The work of true problem solving involves the work of structural integrity, which political correctness never affords. If it did, the root to any particular problem would never have had the cover to have initially grown deeper from the beginning.
National and international problems and delusions typically have:
- A root cause supported by complementary causes
- Corrupt elements that profit from the problems, and therefore are agents of propaganda
- An uninformed and unenlightened populace that allows an unhealthy mindset of apathy and acceptance to be formed around a problem relating to the general public.
A great president deals with all three of these dynamics; he solves problems by creating solutions that are spiritually correct, logically coherent, and morally sound, which in turn appeals to the higher senses of man and creates a spirit of cooperation. Only in this way will there be solutions that are sustainable over time.
- When problem solving is attempted through political maneuvering rather than practical application, disaster follows.
- The perpetual handing down, from one administration to another, of the same distresses and dilemmas is a cycle that needs to be broken through true leadership.
- The world is becoming more complex by the day, and so are its problems. If the President is not an aggressive problem solver, he will in fact, be a passive enabler.
Inspiring
In a time when political correctness, negativity, division and false agendas have seemingly dominated politics, the people are crying out for true leadership, and America desperately needs to be lifted up.
All too often in America today political polish is traded for inspiration. Yet no amount of political polish can make up for a lack of inspiration. Only a president who lives with heart and soul can ever offer this nation what is most valuable in a living, vital way.
The President must have inspirational qualities if he is going to energize the American people to live into the dream that is America, as well as provide the impetus for the structural change needed to help make the American dream more of an accessible reality than a theoretical concept. In short, his inspirational energy must be consistent with the nation’s inspirational legacy.
- An inspirational president cuts to the heart of the nation’s people and causes a rekindling in their soul of all that is good and true about America.
- When a president lacks inspiration he lacks the actual fuel that fires the country into determined action.
- An inspirational president will help create the necessary conditions that will once again foster a sense of pride in America.
Progressive (Committed to Growth)
The promise of America is so great, so bold, so venturesome and cutting edge, that the nation must have a continuous revolutionary spirit working through it in order to keep pace with its inherent genuineness of greatness.
America does not need continuous change so much as she needs continuous growth. A progressive president is one who is about the herculean task of moving the country forward into every good, true, and life-affirming activity that proves out the ideal of “the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.” He is one that has a forward thinking mindset; he sees the potential of the nation, and then stimulates the creative drive to meet that potential, while simultaneously developing the structural plans to do so.
The promise of America is so great, so bold, so venturesome and cutting edge, that the nation must have a continuous revolutionary spirit working through it in order to keep pace with its inherent genuineness of greatness.
- The true quality of being Progressive does not reflect today’s pseudo-Progressivism, but refers to the progressivism and enlightenment of the scriptures and the working philosophy of the founding fathers. A truly progressive leader is going to at once conserve that which is essential to be conserved, while always seeking to improve upon all aspects of American life.
- A true progressive leader and President is not seeking to supplant the nation’s founding principles, moral structure, and spiritual belief, but rather to embrace them, and cause all of American activity to more greatly reflect their creative essence.
- A non-Progressive president idles the country into a prolonged period of stagnation. This is followed by a regression in the mindset and actions of both the government and the people.