Faith and Focus

It’s about Character
Written by Donald Hughes, March 2013
There is so much talk now-a-days about the government being too big, the deficit too big, the taxes too high and the spending too out-of-control. And, all of those things are obviously true as has been the case for most of the modern age in America. But what is different than times past is the lack of a moral compass in the general population to turn it all around.
Back in the day of Calvin Coolidge, post WW I Era, the Nation was in a similar circumstance as today. Unemployment was high as soldiers returning from the front were unable to find work, tax rates were high and inflation so out of control actual riots were in the streets. Warren Harding was President, and was caught up in a firestorm of controversy over favoritism to oil-leasing our West, leading to the “teapot dome” scandal in Wyoming. While visiting the West, he suddenly died and left his VP, Coolidge, as the new President of the United States.
Coolidge understood one important thing that most politicians don’t seem to grasp today: that the office of the President (and any other for that matter) is temporary, and as such, the electorate is there to do a service by and for the people who elected them, and not the other way around. He had a whirl-wind schedule of work, work, and more work since he considered his time in office short, and had to get things accomplished quickly. He met hundreds of times in his one-term (he refused a second term) with his staff regarding the budget and the economy. He was famous for saying “no” to spending, and to bills that increased spending. He understood that tax-cuts, and not tax-hikes, increased revenue to the Treasury. In fact, he understood that tax increases were mainly to increase the size of the government, and did not increase revenue. He also understood, and had a deep moral conviction that he and those elected were given a trust by those that elected them to be honest, responsible stewards of their hard-earned money. To do anything else would be not just economically wrong, but morally wrong for the Nation. He professed, “We must have no carelessness in our dealings with public property or the expenditure of public money. Such a condition is characteristic of undeveloped people, or of a decadent generation.”
At the core of all of his leadership as President was his character, or moral compass, set on an unyielding course of doing what was right with the Nation’s money, especially with real spending and budget cuts. As a result, he was not particularly popular with the Washington “in crowd”, and not with most of Congress (which is another problem with today’s politicians seeking popularity over substance), but he didn’t care. He led, he made personal decisions rather that rely on committees or special focus groups, and knew what was needed to be done to put the country on its feet again. His success didn’t last, but good times seldom do because great leaders with moral clarity are indeed rare. What makes it even more difficult today is that the majority of the voting public themselves lack the moral conviction to elect such a leader, as was witnessed this past election cycle. The general public, fueled by the media, just doesn’t care about character, a thing so important in Coolidge’s day. Until the general population start caring about that again, great leaders will not have the chance to shine and turn this great Nation, around. It’s not about the taxes, the spending, or the deficit. It’s about moral fiber and character.