A recent letter to the editor, speaking of President Donald Trump, was posted under the heading, “Beware a president who will say anything.” Well, that statement could apply to just about any president in recent memory, not just President Trump.
President Barack Obama is remembered for stating to the citizenry something like, “If you like your healthcare plan you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep him.” The promise was also given that the cost of the average healthcare policy would drop $2,500 annually. “Beware a president who will say anything.”
President William J. Clinton will be remembered for those famous words, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman … Monica Lewinsky.” Clinton was also found guilty of contempt for providing “intentionally false” testimony in the case Jones v. Clinton which resulted in the suspension of his license to practice law.
The historical jury is still out on whether President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq on false pretenses. The rationale was that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction’ and was prepared to use them. The results were that no such weapons were found. Did they exist? Possibly. Or possibly not. In any event, political observers are divided on the matter.
President Ronald Reagan had his own scandal, known as the Iran-Contra Affair in which the U. S. was accused of trading weapons for hostages held by Iran. Reagan responded, “We did not, I repeat, did not trade weapons or anything else [to Iran] for hostages, nor will we.” A few months later he admitted, “A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not.” Hmmm.
During the presidential campaign, George Bush promised, “Read my lips … no new taxes.” But taxes were, indeed, raised. And President John Kennedy declared that he was not considering an invasion of Cuba yet, a few months later, the debacle known as The Bay of Pigs occurred. President Richard Nixon told the nation, “I am not a crook,” but he certainly had a string of untruths that forced his resignation from the presidency in order to avoid impeachment. The truth is that presidential lies are told all the time.
So, the writer of the letter wasn’t wrong. He just wasn’t inclusive. I suspect that if some scholar were to research all of the lies told by Presidents (and surely someone has done that already), none of them would emerge unscathed. Even the story of Washington chopping down the cherry tree is a myth. And Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did not free all the slaves (the slaves in four Union states were left untouched). People who put their whole trust in people — even presidents — will always be disappointed.
Presidents are fallible and prone to the same weaknesses and sins as everyone else. Perhaps this is one reason the New Testament commands the Church to pray for leaders. God knows they need it.
[David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]
