What's Justice Got to do With it?

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend, or those of you who had  along weekend, (I had work and school so not all of us had extra time off). The day off was for President's day so I thought I do a President's edition to my blog. As an American living with the right to the "freedom of speech" I do see a great value in challenging authority. I agree we have to question the decisions made by others because one single person (even a president) can't possibly be right in all circumstances. That being said I do think we (American's) can sometimes forget our leaders are actually doing their best (most of the time) in a very difficult and stressful job. Because respect for our leaders is something I feel can get a bit lost in American culture I'm choosing to point out some positives about a few of our past leaders.

1. George Washington- I'll start with an easy one. He was our first president. If not for his efforts America may never have become its own country; as commander-in-chief of the revolutionary war he played a large role in America's independence. He was a true non-partisan  he avoided taking sides during political disputes, rather focusing on creating a new form of government for the United States.

2. John Quincy Adams- He was our sixth president. John Quincy Adams represents an honesty, morality, and highmindedness rarely seen in American government. He was always choosing to do what was right vs. what was popular. He was the paragon of public service.

3. Herbert Hoover- He was our thirty first president. He has the unfortunate legacy of being in office during The Great Depression. We must remember he took office during the START of the depression, previous leaders must take the blame for many of the problems he had to face. I'm not sure his response these financial issues were appropriate, however, he came in to a bad situation and it would be difficult to get out of such circumstances.

4. Harry S. Truman- He was our thirty third president. As president, Truman made some of the most crucial decisions in history. His decision to bomb Japan effectively ended World War II. I'm not going to debate the ethics of his decision to drop the bombs (at least not in this particular post), but what I will say is he started with an urgent plea of surrender to Japan. His heart was for a peaceful (or more peaceful) end to the war and nobody, at that time, knew how extreme and far reaching the consequences of the bombings would be.

5. Andrew Johnson- Our seventeenth president. He has the unfortunate distinction of taking office due to the assassination of Lincoln; he took office by chance. It would be a very difficult position to be in, to be thrown into such overwhelming power without the reassurance that more than half your country believed in you.

6. Warren Harding- He was our twenty ninth president. Harding was one of the few presidents to win in a landslide. He was obviously very well liked, and trusted, by the American people. He promised a "return to normalcy" following the hardships of World War I. We don't know how much he could have done with a full term presidency because he died of a heart attack after serving for only two years.

7. Andrew Jackson- He was our seventh president. America faced some of its most weighty issues during his presidency. Issues such as slavery and the preservation of the Union were faced during his presidency. So many years later it is easy for us to have strong feelings on the issues he dealt with but in the middle of it he had to attempt to solve some very complex problems.

8. Benjamin Harrison- He was our twenty third president. He was compelled to address issues of currency reform and economic equity. He signed the Sherman Antitrust Act into law in an attempt to curtail monopolies. Though we may always have a large disparity between our wealthy and our poor he at least attempted to level the playing field. Any act against monopoly is opening the door for more people to join a business endeavor.

9. Franklin Delano Roosevelt- He was our thirty second president. He took office in the depths of The Great Depression; quite possibly the worst time to take office. He helped America regain faith in itself, he brought about hope; something previously long lost. In his inaugural address he asserted "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" by seeking the presidency at such a bad time he proved he believed in his own words.

So, what's justice got to do with it? In my opinion this is a justice issue. The way we treat our presidents is reflective of the way we treat our other leaders. Bosses, pastors, and teachers are held up to impossible standards as hero's and when they can't measure up to these impossible standards they are labeled as failures. I think its important to understand our hero's are also people. Their humanity will show in their daily lives, failures (big and small) are going to happen. We should be doing our best to help our leaders succeed and watching as they learn to pull through in their failures.

I know all the presidents deserve a little blurb here but this is about all I've got time for. Leave me a comment and let me know what's great about some of the other presidents. If you aren't from America and you're reading this let me know what's great about one of the leaders (past or present) from your own country.