[bd476]

NPA, thanks for your response. Here's how I heard the phrase:

"...responsibility not a mandate..."

[bd476]

That would be NAA, not NPA.

[not_apathetic_anymore]

Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference.

I guess if pushed I'd interpret the first sentence with a more political overtone, the 2nd and 3rd more spiritually. I'd go back to the political interpretation for the 4th sentence, relating it to the whole paragraph, but I can see where it could be interpreted in the more spiritual context.

Guess he was effective at being cryptic then:) The remarks could be interpreted either religiously or politically, and if political either Anti-Clinton or Anti-Bush. Everyone ought to be able to find something in there!