Statesman Vs Politician
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James Freeman Clarkes statement is a general assessment of how elected officials perform their jobs in whatever level of government they have been chosen to be a part of. A politician is someone elected by the people to make decisions for the majority. A statesman is more than that. A statesman may have been elected for the same purpose, but the statesman has one thing the politician does not; he has the respect of his constituents. Whilst the politician is worried about what he needs to do to satisfy his party and those who elected him so that he can keep his job, the statesman is worried about the wellbeing of all those he has the ability to help. British philosopher, Edmund Burke, stated, “A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.” A statesman knows that the decisions he makes everyday will affect the future generations.
The best examples of statesmen are the early presidents of our nation. Unlike todays political leaders, these presidents had no considerations of the next election. They focused solely on building up a successful and prosperous nation so that the budding country could provide the best possible future for the population. George Washington, who could have easily run for as many terms as his life would have allowed, declined to run for more than two terms. He didnt consider leading the nation as a job but rather a temporary task that he believed was necessary in order to push the nation towards its opulent potential. John Adams, second president of the United States, exhibited many principles of a statesman despite having to deal with the issue of political parties. He once said, “Always stand on principle even if you stand alone.” Adams was not considered a “people person.” When considering whether to go to war or not with one of the warring nations of Europe, Adams saw that America was not ready for war even though the American population was biting at the bit for it.
Over time the battle to lead the country became focused more on appeasing the individual parties and the citizens that considered themselves part of them and less on selecting the best candidate for the post. Unlike his father, John Quincy Adams was more of a politician than a statesman. During the election for the presidency in 1824 Andrew Jackson had the most votes in both the popular vote and the Electoral vote but did not have a majority. Henry Clay, one of the other candidates for president, was not among the top three men in the Electoral College vote making him ineligible to be elected president in the House. Clay threw all of his support to Adams due to no other reason than that he detested Andrew Jackson. When taken to the House of Representatives Adams was named president and soon after Clay was named Secretary of State. This incident became known as the Corrupt Bargain because of the suspected deal between Clay