I have been reading John Adams by McCullough. It is a well written biography and not necessarily always flattering to Adams. The interesting thing I've noticed is the politics and the discord among the leadership of our country. I guess I'm a little naive - I thought they all got along and worked together for the good of our brand new country. NOT! Thomas Jefferson and Adams were friends at one time but during Adams service under George Washington, apparently had a major falling out. When Adams was elected as President, Jefferson was elected as his Vice President. They did not get along and Jefferson did not support Adams during his term. In fact, much of the time was writing against him and working to undermine his authority. Things worked very differently in those days. Adams and Alexander Hamilton hated each other and were fairly vocal about it, although John Adams used much more restraint than Hamilton. The Cabinet selected by Adams were actually already in place as they had been selected and served under George Washington. Several members did not support Adams and actually undermined him in several instances, as did his Vice President.
I guess history truly does repeat itself if we don't learn from it. In listening to the political talking heads, I hear much of the same thing happening today. Political ambition and hunger for power have always been with us. When these two characteristics are used without any kind of balance or restraint, the picture gets very ugly! I used to think that the elected officials should have a term limit to keep some of this out of the picture. It seems the longer someone serves the more obvious these 2 characteristics become. However, it may not be based on the length of service, but the heart of the servant! That's really what it all comes down to anyway isn't it - the heart of the servant. Are they serving for the good of others or to better themselves? In looking at our upcoming Presidential election and the candidates - I don't really see any one candidate that truly stands out as the best choice. However - there are many who stand as a bad choice. So - that's what it comes down to - a choice of the lesser of two evils! Sad but true! :(
6 comments:
Thats been my opinion too!!
I'm so glad you're finally finding some time to read that. It is one of my favorites...oddly enough. Hope work on the kitchen starts soon. Love you!
I agree that no candidate this time seems to stand out as the best choice. I'm going to have to really research the ones I would even consider voting for to learn as much as I can. We all need to pray a lot about this in the coming months.
Political ambition and hunger for power have always been with us. ..sad but true hun!..we often choose the lesser of 2 evils Strawberry!
I read this book several months ago and found it fascinating. It reads almost like a novel doesn't it? It made me want to learn more about our nation's history. I don't remember learning any of this in history class! ;)
The way I look at it, there isn't one great candidate, but I think there are several candidates that when put together (as Veep and VP) aren't too shabby. I think they will balance each other out.
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