Speaker 1: This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories.
Speaker 1: It's no small miracle that the United States is the
Speaker 1: longest standing constitutional republic in the world. After all, data
Speaker 1: shows the shelf life of the average democracy is about
Speaker 1: fifty eight years before falling into despotism or otherwise transitioning.
Speaker 1: It's a good thing we're not average, but we almost were.
Speaker 1: Here to share the story of how George Washington refused
Speaker 1: to become a king despite very real attempts to make
Speaker 1: him one. Is Vince Benedetto, the founder of Bold Gold
Speaker 1: Media Group and a regular contributor here at Our American Stories.
Speaker 1: Take it away, Vince.
Speaker 2: It was not long after the Battle of Yorktown in
Speaker 2: seventeen eighty one, when Washington's decisive victory over the British
Speaker 2: all that ended the Revolutionary War. A triumphant Washington made
Speaker 2: his new headquarters in Newburgh, where he awaited word of
Speaker 2: a treaty that would formerly end the war. But there
Speaker 2: were problems on the home front. Washington had to maintain
Speaker 2: the Continental Army in a state of readiness should peace
Speaker 2: negotiations fail, and his army was suffering and, worst of all,
Speaker 2: largely unpaid. They'd endured eight years of hardship, but the
Speaker 2: Continental Congress lacked the funds to properly equip and compensate
Speaker 2: the soldiers throughout the war. According to Jack Warren, author
Speaker 2: of Freedom, The Enduring Importance of the American Revolution, Washington's
Speaker 2: officers struggled to maintain order, but most of them were
Speaker 2: as angry and frustrated as their men. Like their soldiers,
Speaker 2: they too had gone without pet The frustration of the
Speaker 2: officers extended far beyond finances. There was an emerging belief
Speaker 2: that the Congress was ineffective, incompetent, and unable to govern
Speaker 2: the new nation through the vast challenges ahead. This uncertainty
Speaker 2: was expressed in a letter now known as the Newburgh Letter,
Speaker 2: sent to General Washington by Colonel Louis Nicola on May
Speaker 2: twenty second, seventeen eighty two. Professing to speak on behalf
Speaker 2: of many officers, Nicola urged Washington to make himself King
Speaker 2: of the United States, believing that only Washington had the
Speaker 2: moral authority and respect needed to lead the new nation
Speaker 2: through the rough times ahead. Washington, faithful to the ideals
Speaker 2: of the Revolution, condemned the notion, replying to Nicola quickly
Speaker 2: and emphatically he said.
Speaker 3: If you have any regard for your country, concern for
Speaker 3: yourself or posterity, or respect for me, banish these thoughts
Speaker 3: from your mind, and never communicate as from yourself or
Speaker 3: anyone else, a sentiment of the like nature.
Speaker 2: Washington understood history was littered with examples of generals becoming
Speaker 2: absolute rulers in the wake of their victories. He also
Speaker 2: understood that, since the dawn of the Revolution, many feared
Speaker 2: he too, might become an American Cromwell. In early seventeen
Speaker 2: eighty three, frustration within the ranks of Washington's officer corps
Speaker 2: reached its apex, but became now known as the Newburgh Conspiracy,
Speaker 2: began to formulate in early March when anonymous letters began circulating.
Speaker 2: The first, authored by an aid to General Horatio Gates,
Speaker 2: encouraged officers to gather and to discuss their grievances, and
Speaker 2: even proposed defying Congress and refusing to disband if their
Speaker 2: demands were not met. This letter was followed by a
Speaker 2: second designed to further inflame passions, intimating open military rebellion
Speaker 2: if Congress failed to act on the verge of a
Speaker 2: mass mutiny. Washington, who had led his army, through many battles,
Speaker 2: stepped into the breach. Aware of the anonymous letters, he
Speaker 2: issued a general order the very next day, disrupting the
Speaker 2: conspirator's planned gathering. He also cleverly implied that he may
Speaker 2: not even be present at that meeting, and it would
Speaker 2: be led by the senior officer in attendance. What followed
Speaker 2: was one of the great examples of leadership and stagecraft
Speaker 2: in American military history. Washington was keenly aware that addressing
Speaker 2: the officers directly and condemning them could run the risk
Speaker 2: of losing their support, but he also understood that ignoring
Speaker 2: the map would be even worse. When the day arrived,
Speaker 2: there was no sign of Washington. Starting the meeting was
Speaker 2: General Gates, who began by riling up his audience, But
Speaker 2: soon after the door swung open and General Washington entered
Speaker 2: the room, much to the shock of Gates and the
Speaker 2: officers present. Gates did the only thing he could do.
Speaker 2: He relinquished the floor to Washington. Rather than choose to
Speaker 2: use the force of his command or implicit threats, Washington
Speaker 2: chose the path of moral persuasion. His preparation was meticulous,
Speaker 2: as he sought to address the officer's grievances and the
Speaker 2: broader threat to Republican governance posed by ideas contained in
Speaker 2: those anonymous letters. He also explained that he was working
Speaker 2: on their behalf to make sure Congress would not betray
Speaker 2: their commitments to the army. Washington then reminded the officers
Speaker 2: that they were men of honor, making it clear this
Speaker 2: moment required the same commitment to duty that tested their
Speaker 2: resolve and courage on the battlefield.
Speaker 3: He said to them, you will give one more distinguished
Speaker 3: proof of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to
Speaker 3: the pressure of the most complicated sufferings. And you will,
Speaker 3: by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity
Speaker 3: to say, when speaking of the glorious example U you
Speaker 3: have exhibited to mankind, had this day been wanting, the
Speaker 3: world had never seen the last stage of perfection to
Speaker 3: which human nature is capable of attaining.
Speaker 2: What happened next might very well have been the single
Speaker 2: act by Washington that saved our republic. As he began
Speaker 2: to read a letter he'd received from a member of
Speaker 2: Congress attempting to address their plight, the now older Washington
Speaker 2: struggled to read the letter due to his declining eyesight.
Speaker 2: His soldiers noticed him struggling, and Washington noticed them. Noticing
Speaker 2: masterfully reading the room, Washington, in a rare moment of vulnerability, paused.
Speaker 2: He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a
Speaker 2: pair of reading glasses. His troops were astonished. None had
Speaker 2: ever seen their general showing any sign of weakness or age.
Speaker 2: Washington then looked at them.
Speaker 3: And he said, gentlemen, you will permit me to put
Speaker 3: on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray
Speaker 3: but almost blind in service to my country.
Speaker 2: Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles,
Speaker 2: for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind
Speaker 2: in service to my country. Historians have debated whether Washington
Speaker 2: staged this moment but calculated or not. The impact was
Speaker 2: emotionally overwhelming, as his troops were moved to tears. When
Speaker 2: Washington left the room, any thought of mutiny ceased, and
Speaker 2: for one final time, his troops followed Washington's leave and
Speaker 2: his example. This moment represented something far deeper than stopping
Speaker 2: a rebellion within the ranks. Washington established that elected civilian
Speaker 2: authority of the military must at all times be maintained
Speaker 2: and cherished, and that any attempt to undermine it was
Speaker 2: a betrayal of the revolution itself. The meeting concluded with
Speaker 2: his officers committing to support the Congress and rejecting any
Speaker 2: calls for a rebellion or open defiance. The Treaty of
Speaker 2: Paris was signed in September of seventeen eighty three, officially
Speaker 2: ending the Revolutionary War, and thanks to Washington's continued advocacy,
Speaker 2: his officer's grievances were addressed by Congress, although imperfectly, when
Speaker 2: they approved half pay pensions for life. As a new
Speaker 2: year approached on a day that should be remembered second
Speaker 2: only to our Independence Day, Washington fulfilled his destiny not
Speaker 2: as a American Cromwell, but as the American Cincinnatus on
Speaker 2: December twenty third, seventeen eighty three. He defied nearly every
Speaker 2: historic precedent, and he resigned his commission, voluntarily relinquishing his
Speaker 2: sword to the Continental Congress, asking for nothing in return.
Speaker 2: Washington was a civilian once again, and he returned to
Speaker 2: his home at Mount Verney.
Speaker 1: The story of George Washington and how he averted a
Speaker 1: coup and refused to become king here on our American stories,