95. Integrity only exists now
The importance of integrity continues until an SP’s last breath. Integrity can be revealed even on the deathbed, and can live on after death, so it is important for SPs to consider how they wish to be remembered. This is not a question for later but for now, as the way people see you later is influenced by what you do now.The present situation is the only thing you can do something about now. SPs would therefore be well advised not to put off or shirk integrity, as the only people responsible for SPs’ integrity are the SPs themselves.
Integrity remains important, as stated, even after an SP’s term of office has ended. The importance of integrity continues until an SP’s last breath. Integrity can be revealed even on the deathbed. The last words of Dwight Eisenhower were as follows: “I’ve always loved my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, and I’ve always loved my country. I want to go. I’m ready to go. God, take me.” Another example is US president Grover Cleveland, whose last words as he died were: “I have tried so hard to do right.”554 It is in those situations where more could be said that what is said reveals the most about where a person’s heart lies.
However, a person’s integrity can live on after death. It is expressed in the texts in sympathy cards and obituaries, on gravestones, and in media reporting and eulogies. When Franklin Roosevelt died just before the end of the Second World War, it was said that, “He died fighting for democracy.”555 Joseph Stalin praised Roosevelt as being “a great politician of world significance”.556 Integrity can also live on in the memories of others. For example, people may retain memories of ideals, courage, and honesty in SPs that can serve as an example to others. At the same time it is possible to go down in history as bad or corrupt, even the worst or most corrupt SP. Out of 690 mayors of large US cities, experts chose William H. Thompson as the worst mayor ever because he received campaign funds from gangsters such as Al Capone, among other misdeeds, and after his death a $1.5 million bribe turned up in his safe deposit box.557 As stated in chapter 17, Indonesian president Mohamed Suharto headed a list of most corrupt political leaders.558
From the perspective of integrity the question to ask is how you would like to be remembered. This is not a question for later but for now, as the way people see you later is influenced in part by who you are and what you do now. The present situation is the only thing you can do something about now. What happens now will never return and cannot be redone. In that respect integrity is about the here and now. The only thing that counts is what you do in the moment. As Bill Clinton wrote, “All we have is the moment.”559
By relating integrity to now, you avoid putting off good intentions for the future and opting for less edifying issues in the short term. Postponing integrity is a rejection of integrity in the present. There is also the question of whether there will even be a later, and if so, whether you will be able to prioritize integrity at that point. SPs may think that they have to survive their first term in office before having the freedom in the next term to realize their ideals and principles. However, the second term often proves disappointing, as US presidents have found.560 They have less power because it is difficult to change course (because that shows a lack of integrity), receive more criticism (because others lose patience over unfulfilled promises), and less cooperation (because others begin to anticipate their successor). It is therefore better to begin the first term with the expectation that there will be no second term. This prevents postponement from turning into denial of duty if there is no second term, requiring the SP to leave empty-handed.
In the end you are integrity. The only person responsible for your integrity is you. The only person who can develop your integrity is you. In short, integrity is about the way you are now.