There’s a famous exchange that occurred at the end of the American Revolution. As the war was ending, there was speculation about what kind of country the newly independent America would become and many people assumed Washington would declare himself King of the new country.
King George III happened to meet Benjamin West, an American living in London. The King asked West what he thought Washington would do now that the war was over. West said that he had heard Washington planned on retiring back to his farm. George said “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”
As it turns out, Washington did indeed retire and go back to his farm (although he would be elected President five years later). Is there any record of whether George III made any additional comments after it was clear that Washington was not going to take power?
I hadn’t heard of this exchange, but it’s worth pointing out that Washington’s proposed actions weren’t merely a republican ideal – he was consciously followuing in the footsteps of the Roman general Cincinnatus
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If George did speak as you say, he probably also had the knowledge of Cincinnatus in mind, and undoubtedly would have mentioned it if he spoke of Washington in the future.
Although it’s not known if George III knew of it, but at one point Washington’s officers did offer him command of the country, an effective military dictatorship, and he turned it down.
Not long after the Newburgh events, the Society of the Cincinnati was formed. It still exists, and is headquartered in Washington DC
It should be noted that in the Roman Republic, “Dictator” was an official and legitimate title, and was strictly term-limited: You couldn’t serve as Dictator for more than six months consecutively. Well, until that Julie guy went and overturned the apple cart.
Well there was Sulla’s dictatorship which had no term limit to it and it’s resulting bloodbath in 81 BC. Still an educated man in the 18th century would know the ideal Cincinnatus represented and would recognize parallels to Washington.
I realize that Washington was consciously following the Cincinnatus example. But my point was that most people thought he was just talking. That like Caesar or Napoleon or Bolivar, he was only feigning reluctance for popular effect and would ultimately seize power. So these people were amazed when Washington followed through and really did voluntarily retire. (And it was by choice. A substantial portion of the Continental Army made it clear they wanted Washington to take over the country and would support him. So Washington could have become a dictator if he had wanted to.)
November 1788 aparently was the height of GIII’s first bout of demetia, or Madness, or bat-shit-crazy. He came and went in coherence over the next few decades; although, he aparently was coherent around the time Washinton finished his terms as president and retired…
In 1782, in the uneasy two years between the last great American victory at Yorktown and the signing of the treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain, Col. Nicola of the Continental Army suggested that, since Congress was untrustworthy and ineffectual, Gen. Washington ought to depose them and become king. Washington’s response to his subordinate officer is classic: http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/multimedia/heston/lewis_nicola.html
George III’s remark to West is pretty well-documented; the University of Virginia’s Washington Papers project traced its origins a few years ago (I could dig up a cite for you, if you like). Garry Wills also discusses it in his excellent Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment. I’ve read a lot about Washington over the years and haven’t ever come across any subsequent remark by the King, though. As md2000 notes, he had some mental issues in later years.
Napoleon, while exiled and late in life, was quoted by one contemporary as muttering, “They wanted me to be another Washington.”
History is full of tyrants; there have been precious few leaders in Washington’s mold. His declining of power that others sought to thrust upon him, and his insistence that the institutions of republican government must be upheld, is all the more reason to admire him today.