Does the President of the WT have any power?

BU2B

I thought about this after reading Incognito's thread. I was wondering if anyone here has any idea what the President of the WT actually does or if he truly has any real power, or if he is merely the GB puppet.

Londo111

You mean Agent 86?

OneEyedJoe

From what I've read from other folks on here, he has some power, but if the GB doesn't like what he's doing they can DF him, which would cause him to lose his position. So, in reality, they have the power to do whatever they want. Of course, if it's too obvious they're DFing him without grounds, that could cause enough of a scandal that they'd lose some membership, so they probably don't want to play that card if they don't need to.

BU2B

But how could they remove him from the legal leadership of the WT corporation if the GB has no real power and is just theological in function?

OneEyedJoe

My understanding (which could very well be wrong) is that the presidency position is contingent on the president being an active, baptized member of the JWs. So if he got DF'd he'd be implicitly removed from the presidency as well.

Theredeemer

I suspect he has as much power as they do. The WT has two heads: Corporation/Legal and Theological. Gb is in charge of keeping the masses at bay which keeps the money flowing. Corporation/Legal is charge of keeping the media and government at bay, as well as, keeping the funds secure and protected . Without one the other would fall. If anyone is living it up or taking advantage of the donations is Corporate/ legal. Therefore, I would assume that the president must have a substantial amount of power. He probably knows way too much to just get rid of. I think he is very wise to stay in the background in case everything blows up in the GB's faces. After all, he is not the ones that makes the rules.

Incognito

I thought I maybe had drank too much or had an outofbody experience as I didn't recall starting any threads lately.

After searching, I found this thread which was initiated by incognito2014.

wisdomfrombelow

I would say "follow the money" to see who has the real power. I've heard that the GB are required to travel in suits. That sounds like a corp decision. I don't have any knowledge of the by-laws but the officers and voting members of the Society have the control of the funds. If the corp decided to rebel against the governing body or print somethng totally different i guess it could. Rutherford staged a coup and ousted the then "governing body" and installed his own men as officers. I reckon if a majority of the Society and the officers decided to do the same the "governing body" would be without any real influence because of their isolation. I've often wondered about Kingdom Halls and their usage. What if a plurality of the publishers wanted to approve something without the elder body consent or blessing? Are there some states where because of how the congregation is set up that they could do so?

nonjwspouse

The governing body is not the board of directors are they?

The board of directors has the ability to fire/hire the president/executive director.

I believe the govering body is a seperate legal entity from the board and president are they not?

Legally, the board and president call the shots. I am going to assume ( tell me if I am wrong here) that the board is comprised of lawyers. Just a guess. I have not researched this one.

Rather interesting subject though.

Balaamsass2

I think the Elders in Menlo Park found out the hard way...he does.

Does the President of the WT have any power?

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