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Abdul-Baha was in California in 1912 – a presidential election year. One October morning this election was mentioned during a conversation. The master commented:

‘The president must be a man who is not hankering for the presidency. He should be a person free of all thoughts of name and fame; he must think himself unworthy of the r5ank; and should say that he thinks himself unfit for the place and unable to bear this burdensome duty … If the public good is the object, the president must be a person sensitive to the public weal and not a selfish and self seeking one.’

- p. 107 Vignettes from the Life of Abdul-Baha Collected and Edited by Annamarie Honnold quoting Ward, 239 Days: ‘Abdul-Baha’s Journey to America, p. 168