POST 15: The Role of the US President in terms of the ideals of Socrates and Confucius.

When it comes to the role of the US president, it is general knowledge and consensus that he or she is the Head of State, Commander and chief of the armed forces, and the Head of the Government. Both Socrates and Confucius  had similar beliefs. Confucius taught propriety which is perhaps a more socially-oriented equivalent of temperance and self-control. For Confucius the rules of propriety were the social controls for the proper behavior of a gentleman. They maintained the social graces and guaranteed appropriate refinement in manners and conduct which is exactly how we expect a president should act. In the Analects, it states that"Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of virtue"(349).In other words a person should have an equal blend of excellence and accomplishments. Confucius also said that  "He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it"(347) . As a president it is good to be just and govern in a fair and decent manner. not quick to make very rash decisions. According to Confucius, by so doing, people would turn to you (President) in times of need.
For Socrates personal behavior was focused more on the individual as his own responsibility of self-discipline and did not extend so strongly into the social behavior. Socrates believed that one must concentrate more on self development than on material things.He also warns the jurymen who voted against him that in silencing their critic rather than listening to him, they have harmed themselves much more than they have harmed him.  A President has to listen to what his people are saying and not just come up with their own rules.