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I just read a book on Washington and they were calling him Your Excellency a lot. Did he reject this later, or did you mean this more rhetorically?
by seizethecheese 1y ago
I just read a book on Washington and they were calling him Your Excellency a lot. Did he reject this later, or did you mean this more rhetorically?
- paddleon 1y agohe rejected it from the beginning. https://www.heritage.org/commentary/the-man-who-would-not-be-king https://www.heritage.org/commentary/the-man-who-would-not-be... After the [revolutionary] war, there were calls for Washington to claim formal political power. Indeed, seven months after the victory at Yorktown, one of his officers suggested what many thought only reasonable in the context of the 18th century: that America should establish a monarchy and that Washington should become king. A shocked Washington immediately rejected the offer out of hand as both inappropriate and dishonorable, and demanded the topic never be raised again.
- WalterBright 1y agoI forgot to mention Washington also established the convention of a 2-term Presidency and then retiring. We owe a lot to him.
- seizethecheese 1y agoYes, he rejected being king, but he was called “Your Excellency” during the revolutionary war. I just double checked. Frustrating to have such an authoritative sounding correction be wrong!