Is Our Age Too Complex for Just One President?

As I listened to President Reagan’s address about the Iran- contra affair, I was reminded of the succession of presidents who have been in trouble. One may gloat at the discomfort of those “on the other side” and defend those “on our side,” but maybe we face a more complex problem.

Now America seems to crave the leadership of a public appearance star, like Ronald Reagan, coupled with the detail and analytic mind of a Jimmy Carter. Can we ever find all we need for this complex day in one human person? This leads me to want to take a closer look at our system.

Our revered Constitution has served us well in the past. However, we can no longer function with the transportation, the finance, the technology, or the defense of 200 years ago. Do we hold the Contitution too sacred to revamp to meet the needs of a different and complex society?

Can the electorate exercise control of the executive division only through one elected official, the President? Do we need a foreign affairs manager and a domestic affairs manager in addition to a cornerstone-laying, encourager, and symbol, all elected by the people?

We now have no elected lawmaker who is responsible to the entire electorate of the nation. Each senator and each member of Congress looks to a section for reelection and therefore cannot avoid parochial interests as a primary motivation for action. Should some national legislative members be elected “at large?”

Our condition is serious enough for our think tanks, our universities, our unions, our churches, and our government bodies to begin discussion. I hope we do not wait until something shatters our nation asunder.

D.S. BENNETT

La Mirada