What Makes a Worthy President
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When in Bahá'í history
Pleasanton (today: Pleasanton, California, USA)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in California in 1912—a presidential election year. One October morning this election was mentioned during a conversation. The Master commented: “The president must be a man who is not hankering for the presidency. He should be a person free from all thoughts of name and fame; he must think himself unworthy of the rank; and should say that he thinks himself unfit for the place and unable to bear this burdensome duty … If the public good is the object, the president must be a person sensitive to the public weal and not a selfish and self-seeking one.”
Source: Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Annamarie Honnold), p. 122; see also Mahmúd’s Diary, 14 October 1912 (Pleasanton).
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: elections).
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