Leadership Quote by John Witherspoon

Witherspoon is doing something that sounds politely obvious and is actually a loaded political demand: he’s trying to make “moral character” a public job requirement, not a private virtue. In the 18th-century American experiment, legitimacy wasn’t supposed to flow from bloodlines; it had to be constantly re-earned. So he turns the public into a moral screening committee, insisting that elections aren’t just contests of competence or faction, but referendums on the soul of the governing class.

The phrasing matters. “The people in general” is a democratic flattery with a sting. It assumes ordinary citizens can judge character well enough to steer a republic away from corruption, yet it also implies blame: if leadership rots, the electorate is complicit. “Ought to have regard” is softer than “must,” but it’s still prescriptive, a sermon disguised as civic advice - fitting for Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister turned political educator and signer of the Declaration. He’s importing a religious habit of evaluation (scrutinize conduct, test sincerity) into the machinery of state.

The triplet - legislative, executive, judicial - is not window dressing. He’s warning that moral failure isn’t confined to flashy executives; it can hide in lawmaking logrolls and in the cool authority of courts. Subtext: institutions alone won’t save you. A constitution is a harness, but it still depends on the temperament of whoever holds the reins. In a moment when the new nation feared tyranny and also feared itself, Witherspoon offers a bracing bargain: self-government requires self-policing.