{"id":4060,"date":"2012-11-20T07:26:18","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T12:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=4060"},"modified":"2012-11-13T14:09:57","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T19:09:57","slug":"4060","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/4060\/","title":{"rendered":"November 25, 2012–Leader of the Free World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Dave Dodson, Shalimar, FL<\/p>\n

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Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n

Who do you consider to be a good leader?<\/p>\n

Leader of the Free World<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Three weeks ago, the longest election cycle in United States history ended with the re-election of President Barack Obama.\u00a0 The race received a great deal of media attention, not only within the United States, but worldwide.\u00a0 Even citizens of European, Asian, African, and South American nations often favored one candidate over another and followed the race from their own countries.<\/p>\n

This seems a little much, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 After all, the President does not have absolute power, even in the United States.\u00a0 His power is balanced by powers given to Congress and the Supreme Court.\u00a0 The President cannot pass laws on his own; he can only ratify or reject laws approved by Congress.\u00a0 Why, then, were so many people, both inside and outside of the United States, so very invested in the result of the Presidential election?<\/p>\n

To a large degree, the Presidential race matters because it represents the United States as a whole: what the majority of our citizens believe, what values we hold to be most important, and what we\u2019re willing to fight for.\u00a0 Since the Cold War, the President of the United States has often been given the nickname \u201cLeader of the Free World\u201d, suggesting that his leadership defined the values and actions of democratic countries around the world.<\/p>\n

Certainly, the President has a very important political position.\u00a0 To the rest of the world, though, he is also a very powerful symbol of the will of the citizens of the United States.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n