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The more I see the stories of these leaders who led their country to independence and then stayed on and became dictators, the more I appreciate how unique Geor
by RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
The more I see the stories of these leaders who led their country to independence and then stayed on and became dictators, the more I appreciate how unique George Washington was. His single decision to retire after 8 years set up American democracy for success.
- positr0n 7y agoEven well before his presidency, right after the British surrendered, he had to quash small scale conspiracies to have the army take power. And they would have easily made him a military leader similar to Cromwell if he wanted. Example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh_Conspiracy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh_Conspiracy
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y agoGood point. The very fact that we even have an elected President owes a lot to him.
- tinus_hn 7y agoSimilarly Nelson Mandela, although it remains to be seen how successful he has been.
- Gibbon1 7y agoThing to consider is George Washington was a member of the Virginia General Assembly for 15 years before the revolution. And that body had been in existence for the previous 150 years (founded 1619, reorganized 1642) So George Washington was first and foremost a politician.