Speaking with History — and Learning From It

I was going through some old papers this last weekend and came across an essay I wrote as part of my doctoral program. The question was, “Who is it  you would like to meet, and what of their actions you would like to embody?”

For me, the answer is easy: George Washington. But probably not for the reason most people would think. I understand he was a brilliant general, the first President of the United States, and the father of our country.   The reason why I would like to sit down with him and ask him a few questions surrounds how he walked away from that experience. He walked away after eight years of being president and became a routine, plain, everyday citizen. He walked away from ultimate power. His decision set the precedent for more than a century and was, for all intents and purposes, for the betterment of others.

Just think about it. You’re the most popular person in the entire country. You have no rivals or challengers. You could almost run an autocratic process on about anything. And yet, you walk away from all of that. That’s what George Washington did in 1796. He didn’t run for a third term. If he had run, most historians believe that he would have run unopposed as he did in the first two elections of our country, 1788 and 1792.  What kind of self-actuating, self-identified confidence must he have known, internally, to feel as if he was OK with himself and the betterment of others would be served if he went quietly back to Mount Vernon, allowing others to take the next step in our country‘s history.

I would love to know his thoughts on the matter. Just to hear his words about the importance of seeing beyond yourself would be fascinating. We all could take a lesson from that.