Quote:
Originally Posted by Formendacil
No, there was never a point where Tolkien referred to Gandalf as "Steward of Middle-earth", and he certainly was not "in charge of governing Middle-earth as a whole" ever. You seem to ignore Aragorn, Theoden, Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, Thranduil, Dain and Brand.
Formendacil understands Gandalf's concept of leadership. It is not to govern or lead in a political sense, it is as a mentor to kings and a missionary from the Valar. As I stated previously, when Gandalf's mission was completed, he left, and no politician in the history of the world quit when he was at the pinnacle of power.
So, no, Gandalf would not be a good president, because he would never be a president.
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Gandalf took over Saruman as Head of the White Council when Saruman's staff was broken; in reality Gandalf had taken over this role as soon as Saruman became traitor. Also Galadriel and others of the Council preferred Gandalf to be the head from the start ahead of Saruman when the Council first formed. The White Council is a political representation of Middle Earth, and whilst Saruman did at first lead it, much distrust crept into the minds of the Council members throughout his leadership.
As Elrond pointed out, in all matters concerned with the Ring, Gandalf had been the chief. And finally, Aragorn envied Gandalf to be their banner to lead them to victory against Mordor. Overall, Gandalf was in charge of the War of the Ring against Sauron - an entire Age of work at least.
Even Sauron, at the Black Gate through the foul Mouth of Sauron, insisted that Gandalf first and foremost be shown the tokens captured from Frodo. So Sauron recognised Gandalf to be the chief of the opposition.
There is no doubt that Gandalf is the best (save Sauron perhaps) candidate in the LOTR to govern many countries at a time, as well as other key political figures. Whilst he may never run for US president out of personal preference, it is folly to discard his capabilities over more politically manipulative machiavellian characters. In society today, machiavellian characters are loathed as evil, and eventually people read between the lines and see through it.
Formendacil, I do like your style of arguing your points effectively, without being too heated on disagreement.