Paul: So God decides who will be president of the USA?
Yes!
Paul: So much for free will...
Wrong! God orchestrates events per His will - AND He uses humans' freely chosen desires and actions to do so. God, in His sovereignty, has both given us free will and yet it has parameters - and the free will of man can be used as a tool for God's purposes.
Paul: Very slippery slope we are on when we state that God is the one the puts people in position of power. God put Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc, in power?
God USES the free will decisions of men to guide history and events.
Daniel 2:21: "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding."
Daniel 2:37-38: "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold."
Daniel 4:17: ""This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men."
Isaiah 45:1: "Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut" (Note, Cyrus was an evil tyrant!)
Romans 13:1: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."
Joseph told his brothers, "20 As for you,
you meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Jesus told Pilate (John 19:11: "11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above."
Proverbs 8:15: "By me kings reign…"
Acts 13:22: "Then God removed Saul and made David their king…"
Psalms 75: 6-7: "No one … can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another."
Daniel 4:17: "…the Most High has power over human kingdoms. He gives them to whomever he wishes."
Proverbs 8:15: "By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;"
The Bible not only teaches that God appoints our leaders, it also says he controls their behavior:
Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.
Exodus 9:12: "But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron…"
(Note that God uses the desire of the evil pharaoh - already hard against Israel, God "hardENED" his resolve against her! He doesn't make a make ANYONE desire to do evil - as evil people's desires are already there - God merely knows this, and influences and uses it for His glory and the far GREATER good of His eternal purposes.
History is HIS Story - it's why He shuffled and placed people across time and place, according to His purposes - this was not done haphazardly or purposeless. It's one reason how He has always known all outcomes and specifics - as He both orchestrates them, using our free will, but He actually perfectly SEES them before they happen -
and ALWAYS has!