3 Nephi 6: 18-21

18 Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did wilfully rebel against God.
19 And now it was in the days of Lachoneus, the son of Lachoneus, for Lachoneus did fill the seat of his father and did govern the people that year.
20 And there began to be men inspired from heaven and sent forth, standing among the people in all the land, preaching and testifying boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people, and testifying unto them concerning the redemption which the Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings.
21 Now there were many of the people who were exceedingly angry because of those who testified of these things; and those who were angry were chiefly the chief judges, and they who had been high priests and lawyers; yea, all those who were lawyers were angry with those who testified of these things.

(Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 6:18 - 21)

My comments:
When the people return to their wicked behaviors, they are not doing so in ignorance. They had had the gospel preached to them, they had accepted it. But because their love for money was greater than their love of God, some of them fell away in just a few years. Verse 21 teaches us that it was the chief individuals, and even the high priests, or in other words, the leaders of the people, that dissented from the church.

When those the lead fall into wickedness, the people follow. It is important to have honest and moral people as your leaders. That point is rather salient as we are currently in a presidential campaign. All of the candidates are saying, vote for me. Some call their opponents dishonest, but I question their honesty as they do so.

If we choose leaders that are simply driven by the lust for power, We the people, will not be well served.