What is better: Chief Scout Executive or President of BSA?

[Senior_Patrol_Leader_T15]

Ok, I want to know which one is better: Chief Scout Executive or President of BSA?

 

And who was our first President of BSA?

 

And is there any sites that lists the past Chief Scout Executives and Presidents of BSA?

 

Also, is there a Chief Scout of BSA?

 

[Bob White]

Depends on whether you are a professional or volunteer. A volunteer cannot be the Chief Scout executive and a professional scouter cannot be the National president. Each has it's own role and responsibilty.

 

Is it better to be a wheel or an axle. One is useless without the other.

 

The patrol is the most imortant unit in scouting. There is nothing more important (in my opinion) than being a good Patrol Leader.

 

Bob White

[Senior_Patrol_Leader_T15]

Who was our first President of BSA?

 

Is there any sites that lists the past Chief Scout Executives and Presidents of BSA?

 

Is there a Chief Scout of BSA?

[Bob White]

The first paid Chief Scout Executive was James West in 1911. The first President you could say was Ernest Thomas Seton in 1910 although at the time the title was Chief Scout, it was a volunteer position.

 

You can see a list of all the past office holders at the National Scout Museum in Irving, TX. I have not found a list on line yet although one may exist.

 

There is no single national high office for a youth in troop scouting and never has been. That is just not how the program is organized.

 

Hope this helps.

Bob White

[Senior_Patrol_Leader_T15]

Thanx,

 

So then the Chief Scout of BSA position kinda swithched over to the President of BSA?

 

I look at the BSA National Museums website.

 

I like history!

[NWScouter]

Great thing, Old Scout Handbooks. Ive got a 1940 Handbook and it has quite a section on the history of the BSA. This one has a yearly timeline of a paragraph each year.

It states that President Taft accepted Honorary President (as every U.S. President since), Theodore Roosevelt Honorary vice-president and Chief Scout Citizen ( the only one of each), Colin H, Livingstone President. Daniel Carter Beard, National Scout Commissioner, Ernest Thompson Seaton , Chief Scout. In 1925 the second president was James J. Storrow and the third came after his death was Milton A. McRae in 1926. James E. West was named Chief Scout Executive in 1910.

(This message has been edited by NWScouter)

[scoutldr]

"Thompson", not "Thomas"

 

1860-1946, American writer and artist, b. England. His name was originally Ernest Seton Thompson. His stories and paintings of wildlife, especially Wild Animals I Have Known (1898, new ed. 1942), were standard works on nature study and wood lore for boys and girls in the first quarter of the 20th cent. In 1902 he organized the Woodcraft Indians (later the Woodcraft League), much in the spirit of the later Boy Scout movement.

 

 

 

 

[Bob White]

OOPS! My son's name is Thomas and my typing fingers (both of them) went into auto-drive.

BW

[Eamonn]

The Chief Scout Exec does seem to get very well paid. Last I saw it was over $300k.

This is high for a non-profit organization.

From some of the stuff that I have read Baden Powell and James E. West didn't get on too well.

Seems that when BP crossed the pond he wanted to see Scouts in action.

James E. West wanted him to raise money.

Eamonn

[dsteele]

I disagree that the Chief Scout Executive is paid well. I disagree for a couple of reasons -- one is that he lives under pretty close security, a second is that several Scout Executives of major metropolitan citie are actually compensated at a higher rate than the Chief Scout Executive, and the third is that he has to travel nation-wide.

 

Let's face it, if he were the CEO of a corporation with 3 milion shareholders, he'd be making a lot more than $300K per year.

 

DS

[Bob White]

I don't know what the actual salary is Eamonn but consider this...he has over one thousand employees and over 6 million customers in a multi-national corporation. An executive in the private sector would be be making a 7 or 8 figure income at the very least. You will not get someone with the managerial skills to do this job for $80,000 a year.

 

Bob White

[Fat Old Guy]

The President of the whole country only makes $400,000 and that was only after a recent pay raise.

 

A 4 star general is only making about $150,000 a year.

 

"and the third is that he has to travel nation-wide."

 

So? Many executives travel the country.

 

[Senior_Patrol_Leader_T15]

Is there a Chief Scout anymore, and wh actually started the BSA, William Boyce or Ernest Seton?

[Bob White]

You will find the story of how the program began and the role that was played by Baden-Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard, W.D. Boyce, and James West in your Boy Scout Handbook.

 

Each had a key role and each brought a unique element to the program.

 

Bob White

[NWScouter]

There was a long time in the twenties and thirties that Seaton was estranged from the BSA. It came as I remember from some book I read due to his Canadian citizenship and disagreements with James West on how the BSA should evolve.