I knew in some distant, ill-used corner of my brain that there was a time lapse between the end of the Revolutionary War and Washington's election as the first president of the United States. But I had forgotten that it was nearly six years, roughly the amount of time Obama has been president. Which is to say, quite a while. Six years ago I was child-free, roaming the deserts of west Texas and New Mexico, just starting to read books again. In other words, a not insignificant period of time.
There was a lot of speculation about what role Washington would take. The Constitutional convention that paved the way for the presidency had not yet taken place and there were many who were eager to crown Washington as a sort of new king for the newly-minted nation. If the temptation to receive endless accolades and humbly accept the role of monarch was ever entertained by Washington we have no record of the fact. By all appearances, both public and private, Washington was eager to lay down the mantle of national figurehead and retire to managing Mount Vernon and live out his days in peace and prosperity.
The historical figure Washington very intentionally called to mind was the Roman general Cincinnatus. In ancient Rome, with the fledgling nation under attack by the Aequi, an emergency counsel named Cincinnatus temporary dictator of Rome. He rose to the challenge, soundly defeated the Aequi, and then relinquished the powers he was given the very next day. He held them for less than two weeks.
Washington's reticence to claim power and willingness to retreat to a rural life exemplified the ideals of sacrifice for the nation without a view to personal gain. I mentioned in the last post the degree to which Washington crafted and manipulated his public image and there is no doubt that some of that was at play here. However, with one eye on his public perception, it is nevertheless true that Washington feared a monarchy and aristocracy arising in infant America and was hellbent on resisting the human impulse to crown a king.
While content to play a marginal role in national affairs, it is safe to say that Washington could have had no conception of the ultimate role he would be asked to play as the father of his nation.
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