Harry Truman said, “A Statesman is more than just a politician who has been dead for some time.” In my opinion, a statesman is one who is able to project public spirit while playing on the razor’s thin line of the legal and ethical boundaries of the institutions he is governing with temperance and moderation, for the betterment of the whole, regardless of personal cost.
A recent demonstration of Statesman like leadership was demonstrated by former Vice President Mike Pence in officiating the electoral college count. At the end of the day, the results from his Statesmanship ended in a result that (even today) has not settled well with me. There is no doubt about it that the caricature of Statesmanship was spotlighted by the VP that January 6, 2021 day. Former Vice President Pence had pressure from all parties in an almost unprecedented manner solely due to the role that he played in the procedure as laid out by the constitution. (Monsky, 2020) The highly questionable election results and the demand from all parties put VP Pence in the pressure cooker of character and in the middle of an ethical dilemma. Being solely in charge of the procedural governing during the congressional count of the electoral college results, He could have chosen to break the current law that informs the procedural process of receiving the vote. Many were advising him that the law governing the process (The Electoral Count Act) (Legal Information Institute, 1948) would not have held up to constitutional scrutiny under the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The election might have turned another way if the Vice President would have sent the votes under scrutiny back to the state legislators or even just delayed the day in which the votes were counted to allow for more time to clarify. VP Pence certainly had well published and documented objections by the state legislators in the questionable states.
In keeping with the law, tradition, common sense, and perpetuity of the institutional procedures’ Mike Pence demonstrated to us all just exactly how to live out his moment in history as a Statesman. In my opinion, a statesman is one who is able to project public spirit while playing on the razor’s thin line of the legal and ethical boundaries of the institutions he is governing with temperance and moderation, for the betterment of the whole, regardless of personal cost. “Benjamin Franklin’s writings challenge the statesman not only to consider “what is right or wrong” regardless of the circumstances but to consider the long-term consequences of one's actions for not only one's self but also in the lives of others.” (HIGGINS, 2016)
Mike Pence could have easily gotten distracted from his ritualistic and valuable task of studying the Bible during his years in the White House, but by God’s grace, he allowed himself to stay focused on the truth that would guide him in his conscience at just the right moment. I believe Mike Pence used the Bible to understand his role as a statesman. The VP would have been self-sacrificing either way that he decided to proceed, but he proceeded against his own betterment by not electing to give himself a chance to be elected. He interpreted the politics of the moment with moderation being willing to interpret the long-standing law, not just by its letter but by the spirit of the law, and its tradition that has been long held in high regard for over a hundred years. (2 Corinthians 3:6) For posterities sake, going forward, I believe we should probably adopt a form of the Electoral Count Act as a constitutional amendment so that no future Vice President would have to be so pressed in conscience. Whether I agree with Mike Pence’s conscience or not, I will never forget the Statesmanship on display as I watched a man put the principle of over politics and perpetuity of a process over a party that sad but noble day of January 6, 2021.
References:
Burns, K. J. (2018). Chief Justice as Chief Executive: Taft's Judicial Statesmanship. Journal of Supreme Court History, 47-68.
Fischer, D. K. (2010). A Biblical-Covenantal Perspective on Organizational Behavior &Leadership. Pearson Custom Publishing.
HIGGINS, N. (2016). Achieving Human Perfection: Benjamin Franklin contra George Whitefield. Journal of American Studies, 61-80.
Kuisz, J. (2018). The Pushback of Populism. Journal of Democracy, 41-53.
Legal Information Institute. (1948, June 25). Cornell Law School. Retrieved from Counting Electoral Votes in Congress: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/15
Lo P, A. B. (2018). Servant leadership theory in practice: North America’s leading public libraries. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 249-270.
Monsky, N. K. (2020, December 29). New York Times. Retrieved from Campaign to Subvert the 2020 Election: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/opinion/pence-electoral-college-votes-.html
Patrick Overeem, F. E. (2019). Statesmanship Beyond the Modern State. Perspectives on Political Science, 46-55.
Peisah, C. H. (2020). Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in: the older physician in the COVID-19 pandemic. International Psychogeriatrics, 1211-1215.
Shafritz, J. M. (2017). Classics of Public Administration. Boston: Cengage Learning.
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