No. of Recommendations: 15
I am currently re-reading one of my favorite books for my upcoming book club meeting; The Founding Fathers: A Very Short Introduction by R. B. Bernstein. IMNSHO, a brilliant and concise historical work. I came across the following in the book:
”In particular, Washington defended the principle that civil authority is rightly superior to military power. In 1783, he thwarted a plan by unpaid, resentful officers to challenge the Confederation Congress’s authority; seeing this Newburgh Conspiracy as a dire threat to the American cause, he quelled it by sheer force of personality. In December 1783, after the war’s end, he tendered his resignation to the Confederation Congress, emulating the Roman Republic’s Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who left his plow to lead Rome’s armies and returned to his farm once the crisis had ended.
Washington’s resignation became critical to his reputation; his countrymen saw his willingness to yield power as a reason to trust him with power.”
A powerful lesson to learn about who you can trust with power and those that are totally untrustworthy.
