An open letter to the next U.S. president

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column was written before the results of Tuesday's presidential election were known.
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To the Next President of the United States,

Today, November 6, marks a critical juncture for our nation. As this electoral process comes to a close, I find myself writing these thoughts to you. Hopefully on tomorrow, you, as well as the rest of the world, will know of your election. If the polling accounts are true, this will be one of the closest margins of victory in recent times. As such, it will be reflective of the fragile state of our nation and an indication of what is needed from you as you seek to lead.

This moment in time calls for a maturity of character that has not been seen in our generation. It was most clearly seen in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, who faced a nation torturously torn by its divisions. The following are commitments that Lincoln demonstrated and that I believe, we, the people, desperately hope you will fulfill.

1. A commitment to be a reconciler of the breach.
There will be the temptation to exaggerate the results of the election into a sweeping mandate from the country. It is important to understand that a significant number of people did not vote for you. While you may be inaugurated as president objectively, you will not be their president subjectively. Their accepting your leadership cannot be commanded or dictated. It must be earned and won. This requires that you see yourself as a healing presence not just in word, but in deed.

While it is true that there are those who will never accept your leadership, there is a substantial number of persons whose love for this nation and whose hope for posterity's future makes them open to serious and sincere actions that take their concerns into consideration.

You must resist the temptation to retaliate or begrudge those who opposed you. Lesser times could accept such a smallness of mind and spirit. This is a time that requires a largeness of heart and a security of self.

Lincoln's words ring true, "With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds." The cynicism and skepticism of our age demands that you are seen working towards establishing trust through the achievement of agreeable and attainable measures for the nation's collective good.

2. A commitment to lead from the position of conviction and not positioning your party for the next election.
We have seen from both parties a failure to genuinely make the tough decisions due to electoral calculation. The dire straits of our nation merit courageous and conviction- based leadership that genuinely values the people of this nation more than it values its seat in office. This means making hard choices that require sacrifice and possible disagreement from your core constituencies and most lucrative donors.?

If you are to be judged by history to be the leader that you imagine yourself being, you must lead from the position of conviction and courage. You must risk the 2014 mid- term elections for what is right for the nation. To some, such a suggestion is tantamount to political suicide. However, the failure to do so is leading our country to a swift demise in our place in the world and a slow death.

Let Lincoln's words guide you, "I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."

The time that you have offered yourself for leadership is one whose challenges are formidable. The prayers of us all are that you will heed the words of Lincoln, your predecessor, "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. "

Bishop Claude Richard Alexander, Jr.?

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Source: http://www.qcitymetro.com/faith/articles/a_letter_to_the_next_us_president073541655.cfm

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