How much say should the government have in our lives?

I don't really have an answer. My head starts many unneeded conflicts with itself. On one hand I think that we are the land of the free, so how come the government has the right to tell us what we can and cannot do (in regards to abortion, religion, marriage)? But than I start to think of all the laws that I'm glad are in place. The laws that send people to jail when they harm another human beings or put others in danger. So is it possible to weave out all the bad and keep the good?
Honestly, no. Because everybody has an opinion. And thats not a bad thing. There's just a lot of them. Everybody has an opinion on what the good and the bad mean. And it is impossible to keep everyone happy. There has never been a president of the United States where every single person in the country went "Alright. I'm OK with this. I can live with this." That has never happened, and that will never happen.  Everybody has there own thing that they want to the president to focus on. And honestly, 4 years isn't that long. When Obama got elected the first time- I was in 8th grade. Now, I'm graduating High School. But, if I look at everything that happened in those 4 years, I realize that it's not as long as I thought. In fact, it went a lot faster than I was initally expecting.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you can't please the whole population in 4 years. Or even 8. Because there are so many conflicting sides that if you tried, I'm pretty sure you'd be unfit to rule, and would go insane.
Obviously I'm great with words and I really know how to get points across. So, I'm gunna try this one more time: Everyone is different. But you can lump people into groups based on they want to be able to do, and what they want (or do not want) others to do, in accordance to the law. And which people are you supposed to go with? Which people do you support or think you should support? Which people are right? this is where things get foggy.