3 ms·
"Those who act virtuously in every way, will certainly come to grief by those less virtuous." - Machiavelli. Anyone reading Washington's May 31st 1776 letter t
by rrggrr 10y ago
"Those who act virtuously in every way, will certainly come to grief by those less virtuous." - Machiavelli.
Anyone reading Washington's May 31st 1776 letter to his brother, John Augustine Washington ( https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0333 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-... ) will note similarities if not references to Machiavelli in the 2nd paragraph as GW describes Britain ("...She is capable of the most delusive Arts...") and as he describes the weakness of certain members of Congress ("... feeding themselves upon the dainty food of reconciliation...")
So, although Machiavelli never said, "The ends justify the means" or "exitus acta probat", its not surprising that Washington - an avid reader and student of political/military thinking - would arrive at the same conclusion as Machiavelli; namely that acting out of necessity is a virtue, when the alternative is the loss of human rights or a return to what Hobbes described as the "State of Nature".
He felt Congress was kidding itself about alternatives to independence, and GW had the difficult task of motivating an entire army to stay the course.
- pvg 10y agohttps://www.americanheraldry.org/heraldry-in-the-usa/arms-of-famous-americans/presidents-of-the-united-states/george-washington-1st-president-of-the-united-states https://www.americanheraldry.org/heraldry-in-the-usa/arms-of... I don't think he was alluding to Machiavelli.
- rrggrr 10y agoThere's no evidence he read Machiavelli. His library of about 1200 titles has no Machiavelli. But, it would be tough to escape the concepts by association. Hamilton for example did read Machiavelli.
- pvg 10y agoSure but this is a motto on the coat of arms. Fond as he was of the arms, making too much of the motto seems like wishful over-interpretation, to me. 'Washington, realpolitik-y pragmatist' is a perfectly sensible argument to make, I just don't think some verbiage on his carriage had much to do with it, one way or the other.
- rrggrr 10y agoImagine, "The ends justify the means", emblazoned on Air Force One now, or on Lincoln's Carriage during the Civil War, or in the 2016 Presidential election for that matter. Its rare realpolitik is openly acknowledged and endorsed in the United States. Its pretty significant.
- pvg 10y agoI'm not really seeing it. It's a motto on an old coat of arms. This is like saying 'imagine some random immaterial thing in 1775 being really important in 1861 or 2016'. I can imagine it but assigning some profound meaning or significance to it seems like a bit of a retcon.