Grand Master's Job Description

In February of 1952, President Harry S. Truman composed a job description of the President of the United States. You may know that President Truman served as the Grand Master of Missouri Masons. I have followed the format of his job description, and have checked the Masonic Code in making my own job description for the Grand Master of Minnesota Masons:

1. By the Code, he is the Chief Executive of the Craft.
2. By the Code, he is the Chief Disciplinarian for unmasonic conduct.
3. By the Code, he represents the Grand Lodge of Minnesota to sister jurisdictions.
4. He is the leader of his Fraternity, makes and carries out the Fraternity’s vision and mission as best he can.
5. He is the Ceremonial Head of the Fraternity.
6. He is the No. 1 public relations man of the Craft. He spends a lot of time persuading people to do what they should do without persuasion.
7. He has more duties and powers than a king, prince or potentate; but he never uses those powers or prerogative, because he is a brother (with a little b) and because he believes in the three Great Lights of Masonry and what they symbolize.
8. He should be a Washington, Jackson and Truman all in one. I fear that there is no such man. But if we have one who tries to do what is right because it is right, the greatest Fraternity in the history of the world will survive.

For comparison, here is President Truman’s job description:

1. By the Constitution, he is the Executive of the Government.
2. By the Constitution, he is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
3. By the Constitution, he is the responsible head of Foreign Policy and with the help of his Secretary of State implements Foreign Policy.
4. He is the leader of his Party, makes and carries out the Party Platform as best he can.
5. He is the Social Head of the State. He entertains visiting Heads of State.
6. He is the No. 1 public relations man of the Government. He spends a lot of time persuading people to do what they should do without persuasion.
7. He has more duties and powers than a Roman Emperor, a Gen., a Hitler or a Mussolini; but he never uses those powers or prerogative, because he is a democrat (with a little d) and because he believes in the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. But first he believes in the XXth Chapter of Exodus, the Vth Chapter of Deuteronomy, and the V, VI, & VIIth chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.
8. He should be a Cincinnatus, Marcus Aurelius Antonius, a Cato, Washington, Jefferson and Jackson all in one. I fear that there is no such man. But if we have one who tries to do what is right because it is right, the greatest Republic in the history of the world will survive.