Lyrics for I Don’t Want to Be President
By Harry Chapin
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Just after I was born, my father said to everyone
That I would be the President one day
You’re a natural politician, boy, get it in your head
And you know that it might just turn out that way
So through all the years of my childhood
There more important things than to play
I started caring for my country and my fellow man
And this is what I would always say
I’d say, I don’t want to be President
But I want to help the poor and the helpless people
I really don’t want to be President
But if I’m elected I promise to be faithful
I graduated college with my law degree
I was a young man on the move, they always say
I was helping my community, committed to the people
I was working as a citizen, to build a better day
They persuaded me to run for Congressman
They said from Congress you could do much more good
And you’ve got to have the power if your changing things
And I was hoping to do everything I could for the people
I’d say I don’t want to be President
But I want to help the poor and the helpless people
I really don’t want to be President
But if I’m elected I promise to be faithful
Time is a march where the powerful are drummers
Big business, big labor, big oil
And soon I was meeting with the men who ran the country
The men who owned the sky and the soil
Oh, I became a Senator, a man to be reckoned with
Playing golf with millionaires, and speaking on TV
And when they talked of potential presidential candidates
Most often talked about, and most prominent was me
Well, I got the nomination, ran a campaign of conscience
I stood for peace and brotherhood and for prosperity
And on the day of the election I went home to my mansion
When the people had spoken, they’d elected me
But I don’t want to be President
I really don’t want to be President
That I would be the President one day
You’re a natural politician, boy, get it in your head
And you know that it might just turn out that way
So through all the years of my childhood
There more important things than to play
I started caring for my country and my fellow man
And this is what I would always say
I’d say, I don’t want to be President
But I want to help the poor and the helpless people
I really don’t want to be President
But if I’m elected I promise to be faithful
I graduated college with my law degree
I was a young man on the move, they always say
I was helping my community, committed to the people
I was working as a citizen, to build a better day
They persuaded me to run for Congressman
They said from Congress you could do much more good
And you’ve got to have the power if your changing things
And I was hoping to do everything I could for the people
I’d say I don’t want to be President
But I want to help the poor and the helpless people
I really don’t want to be President
But if I’m elected I promise to be faithful
Time is a march where the powerful are drummers
Big business, big labor, big oil
And soon I was meeting with the men who ran the country
The men who owned the sky and the soil
Oh, I became a Senator, a man to be reckoned with
Playing golf with millionaires, and speaking on TV
And when they talked of potential presidential candidates
Most often talked about, and most prominent was me
Well, I got the nomination, ran a campaign of conscience
I stood for peace and brotherhood and for prosperity
And on the day of the election I went home to my mansion
When the people had spoken, they’d elected me
But I don’t want to be President
I really don’t want to be President
