The Man Who Wouldn't Be King

No leader played such a pivotal role in the creation of the United States than George Washington. He was the man who held the ship together when it could have gone a dozen different ways. His actions paved the way for countless democratic movements in succeeding centuries. Washington set the precedent, (like the Roman Cincinnatus) for great men to step aside. His Excellency: George Washington by George Ellis is as fun to read as it is enlightening.

Today, Washington is criticized for his shortcomings through a 21st Century lens. From our standpoint today, he is often considered to be a flawed figure with some major shortcomings. For his time though, his thoughts and actions could be considered were somewhat "out of the box". His most notable achievement was the fact that he did not accept the power that so many wanted to give him. Several times throughout his life he rose to serve, and then stepped back.

When I watched Vladamir Putin of Russia step aside recently, I felt certain that he was following the precedent set by Washington. Accusations that Vladamir Putin will still be in the "de facto" seat of power are moot considering many of those surrounding our current President have been hanging around the White House since the Nixon Administration. If Obama becomes the next President, there will be septugenarians from the Carter and Clinton administrations ready to jump back into step. Power is always held be some sort of elite cabal of insiders.

The two great stains on our nation's history were issues he grappled with regularly.
He struggled with the issue of slavery as the moral wrong that it was. Unfortunately, he didn't take the stand that could have put an end to it. He was the only American that might have done so at the time.
In the area of relations with the indigenous people of North America, he held egalitarian views that sought to work with Indian nations as equals, feeling that any other course would be a moral stain on the young nation. Unfortunately, thick-headed Eurocentrism prevailed over humanistic pragmatism. Truly unfortunate considering that Washington and his fellows probably owed more to indigenous ideas of government and society than they even understood themselves. It was this interaction and influence that possibly paved the way for the democratic revolution that would remake Europe and the world.

Ellis brings Washington to life in this engaging biography that illustrates the multi-sided man in full.