Good leadership is vital in our homes, government, business and our churches!
I was employed during my long life in various parts of our economy and I learned from each how important leadership was in the success of each endeavor and by listening to our elected officials how our government functions fail or succeed; also in our churches, whether the pastors grow the church by leading the unsaved to Christ and nurturing the new Christians in God’s word.
Two of the family owned business were very successful and growing, but after being sold to investors were pillaged by bad leadership and eventually closed their doors. A lot of people lost their jobs, including me.
Being a Christian, belonging to the Southern Baptist Church, I saw a huge turnover in the pastors’ position at the churches for various reasons, but mainly because they were poor leaders.
In government a majority of those holding office now are poor leaders and many of them are very poor followers! Look at the history of our presidents who have been recorded and cannot be erased by those not liking the results of their tenure in office. I will start with modern-day history; to me that means President Herbert Hoover.
The Hoover presidency is the worst rated of all time; he led America into the Great Depression. President Franklin Roosevelt, although handicapped, led our great country out of the Depression and successfully through World War II. He also signed into law Social Security.
President Harry Truman had the intestinal fortitude to use the atomic bomb to end the carnage wrought by Japan and by using straight talk when governing. He also integrated the Armed Services with Executive Order 9981.
I served four years in the U.S. Navy under President Dwight Eisenhower and had tremendous respect for his leadership. He ended the Korean conflict. Ike started the interstate highway system, which opened America up for development.
John Kennedy led America to the moon with his vision and dedication for America’s greatness. Lyndon Johnson gave us civil rights protection, Medicare and Medicaid, which I am thankful for. Richard Nixon could have been a great leader, but his desire for control ruined his legacy. But he did get credit for opening up China, much to our chagrin.
Gerald Ford is remembered for his pardon of Nixon and his golf swing. Jimmy Carter was instrumental for the development of our stealth fighters and bombers but was ridiculed for his love of God and his church. Ronald Reagan is remembered for his statement, “Tear down this wall” and trading guns for hostages with Iran. He also doubled the national debt, which started us down that slippery slope of debt with his tax cuts and spending. George Bush the elder draws a blank in my mind, other than not knowing what a gallon of milk costs. Bill Clinton had a weakness for pretty girls, which led to his impeachment.
But Clinton had many strengths in dealing with people while governing from Washington. The internet flourished during his tenure in office. The dot-com industry boomed with some setbacks. America boomed and we were paying down the national debt and the politicians were saying we had a surplus “as far as the eye could see.”
That all came to a halt with the 2000 election! George Bush the younger cut taxes and swaggered his way around the world, angering many foreign leaders and not paying attention to his national security advisers.
America suffered a tremendous blow on 9/11, which led to the invasion of Afghanistan and later Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of our service people were killed or injured in these wars. Our national debt doubled and this led to the collapse of our financial system along with the great recession.
Barack Obama turned this debacle around. He passed the Affordable Care Act, which medically insured millions of our citizens. He did incur a lot of debt to the treasury, but America was strong and well thought of all over the world. Given the deep hole he was left by Bush, it’s a miracle he survived and succeeded.
Donald Trump is thought of as a liar, a buffoon and a womanizer. He is the only president who has been impeached twice. His tax cuts again ballooned the debt needlessly. He has destroyed many parts of our government that worked to the betterment of America. He allowed thousands of the people to die from COVID-19 by not setting the example of wearing a mask, which worked even in the Spanish flu epidemic. All because he didn’t want his businesses to be harmed and lose profits.
He has turned families against each other by spewing out hate rhetoric.
I think he may replace President Hoover for the top spot with the historians.
Now we have President Biden, who has worked in government for 50 years and has made mistakes in judgment but has admitted to them. The economy is strong for 95% of Americans and getting better.
Russian aggression toward Ukraine has upset the energy sector of the world, which leads to inflation all over the world. Vladimir Putin’s actions have led to food shortages all over the world (we don’t see this in our stores), killing thousands from hunger. China is spreading its influence all over the world and this is going to lead to complications in the future.
President Biden is capable of dealing with all these problems along with his Cabinet and advisers. I consider him to be young.
Bill Williams lives in Palmview.
