I watched Senator McCain give his speech tonight curious on how “Maverick” would frame his plea to the American people to be their next President. I was surprised to hear his emphasis on a very old concept that has largely given way to personal ambition, pride, and power: That of the Public Servant. I have spoken a few times in this space on the idea of what a Public Servant should be, and so his words touched an idealized part of me. Not because McCain had said that he wanted to serve the people, as all politicians do during their many platitudes about “if you elect me to be your President….”, but instead his case for the Presidency seemed to highlight this idea of serving causes larger than oneself and serving because you are called to serve people. He said it a lot, and convincingly enough that I started to wonder if I should believe him.
The first and last Public Servant in the Highest Office for me was George Washington himself. He didn’t ask for the Presidency, nor did he especially want it, but took the office largely because other expected him to and he felt a duty to do so. It was the same sense of Honor that that compelled him to accept being named General of the Continental Army even though he felt unequal to the task. He believed in moral duty above all.
“Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
-George Washington
He was called and so he was elected. He knew the immense responsibility he was carrying, and he carried it with a solemn honor, dignity, and humility. He wrote: “I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent.” He viewed Public office as a higher cause that came with a responsibility to serve the people who had entrusted him to it. After 4 years he was ready to set down the yoke of office but was compelled by others again to seek re-election. When another full term had passed by, nothing could keep him from stepping down, viewing 8 years as more than enough.
Because he was reluctant to take it, he respected that the Office to which he was called to serve was more important than he was. Because he did not seek power, he never sought to abuse the Trust he had been asked to keep. And that makes him unique in U.S. History, and the perfect Public Servant.
So what of John McCain then? Does he seek the Office as opposed to the Office seeking him? I’m sure he does; it represents, at the least, the pinnacle of a long career climb to the top. It would be the climax of his personal story where he can ride off into the sunset, secure that he did his bit for king and Country. At 73, who could write a better ending?
Considering that even Washington was largely unique in his reticence to the Office among his contemporaries, I realize that generally the only people who would have the fortitude to achieve the Presidency are the ones who want it above all else. Of course that sort of ambition is usually a close bedfellow for people with power-hungry egos, but I also recognize that it isn’t necessarily so. And there is a smaller degree even of the kind of social encouragement that pushed Washington that goes on even today, when someone with a strong sense of right-and-wrong and a strong desire to serve hears constant suggestions of running for local office and more. Ambition might almost always be present, but people of good character can have ambition.
Does Senator McCain seek the office to serve the American People and put “Country First” as he claims, or has he merely tapped into a line of rhetoric that he believes will propel him to his highest personal ambition? Perhaps time will tell.
For now, the tactic has encouraged me to renew my faith in the idea of the Public Servant, and for that I am hopeful and grateful. And I’m going to reread Washington’s Farewell Address again.
All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity.
-George Washington
Tags: "Country First", ambition, Election 2008, George Washington, John McCain, moral duty, politics, Public Servant
September 21, 2008 at 6:35 pm |
I guess the biggest concern most have for Mccain is that he has a habit of doing the unexpected, and that is something that apeals to me in a wierd way. I don’t view myself as a “Hardcore Conservative” and value finding common ground to resolve issues. I see alot of absolutism from those involved and Mccain has at times crossed over lines to do what he thought was needed regardless of what his peers thought. I’ve grown tired of Obama’s repetitive feel good politics. I look foward to the debates.