Growing to Full Moral Stature

It is becoming more and more clear every day, for those who didn’t see it the first day, that President Trump is an unruly and unprincipled leader.

He may have a good side buried somewhere beneath the outer impenetrable layer of bravado that defines him. But so far it has not surfaced in any meaningful way.

I know people, friends and acquaintances, who still support and like him. And I try not to talk about the president with them. We simply see things much differently.

I have among my Facebook friends some who have no real issue with Mr. Trump. People who voted for him and will probably vote for him again. I try to be aware of them when I write because in the past I have often been insensitive to those who don’t agree with me about the president.

But whatever good his supporters believe he has accomplished or wants to achieve, I cannot help but think they, too, see the obvious flaws in president Trump. We all have them. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Carter and all the other presidents, did too.

I’m not interested in a president who is self-righteous, sanctimonious, and religiously pretentious. Mr. Trump is certainly not any of that. And I’m thankful. But I would like a president to appear to have a moral compass, a desire to tell the truth, a sensitivity to all people, a willingness to hear opposing viewpoints, the ability to take criticism, intellectual curiosity, and an unclouded vision of purpose for the country.

What we seem to have is a president who changes his side of the news stories about himself time after time. He changes his side to make himself always right and above reproach even when it is obvious to everyone he is not.

The colossal mess president Trump is in with adult film star Stormy Daniels, his own attorney Michael Cohen, and the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, generates responses from him that are plainly contradictory, confusing, odd, and often patronizing. As though none of us are smart enough to see what he is doing.

Whatever side of the Civil War you are on there is no question that the leader of the Confederate Army, General Robert E. Lee, was a brilliant and principled man. When he was asked how he chose his officers he replied, “I cannot consent to place in the control of others one who cannot control himself.”

That would be a worthy motto for all voters these days. Especially when it comes to selecting a president.

Absolute and unquestioned loyalty is required by tyrants and dictators. History’s bloodiest and most gruesome years record the acts of men who ruled their tribes, their people, their nation or country in this way.

No great leader will demand to do everything he wants his own way disregarding wiser voices and deeper minds. Great leaders, ones who inspire and elevate the lives and hopes of others, are those who understand human nature, who welcome diversity, who see themselves in the context of the whole group, whose capacity for compassion is extraordinary, whose mind is open to more learning, and whose acts of courage define it for others.

US Marine Corps Colonel Wheeler Baker, a Ph.D., former commander in Desert Storm, former president of Hargrave Military Academy, awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart, once wrote:

“Leadership is not a gift at birth; it is an award for growing to full moral stature. It is the only prize that a man must win every day. The prize is the respect of others, earned by the disciplines that generate self-respect.”

Growing to full moral stature. Winning the respect of others every day. Not many would disagree we are missing that now. In our president and from others. And the loss of it weakens our nation immeasurably.

© 2018 Timothy Moody

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