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Spotlight: George Washington
Portrait of George Washington by Thomas Sully, oil on canvas, c. 1820
George Washington occupies a unique place in the development of the modern West. A military commander, statesman, and constitutional founder, he helped transform the ideals of the Enlightenment into durable political institutions. His greatest contribution to Western civilization was not simply winning a war of independence, but demonstrating that republican government could be stable, constitutional, and restrained in an age when most states were monarchies.
Born in Virginia in 1732, Washington first rose to prominence during the French and Indian War where he was celebrated for his courage and composure in battle. He acquitted himself well enough to become the leading military figure of the American colonies during the Revolutionary War, and he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in June of 1775. The rebellion he led was conservative in important respects. Although revolutionary in separating the colonies from British rule, it was not a social revolution aimed at overturning traditional property relations, religion, or the existing social order. Many American leaders, including Washington, argued that they were defending inherited English liberties and constitutional rights rather than creating an entirely new society.
After victory, Washington established a precedent of immense significance by resigning his military commission in 1783 instead of using his popularity to seize power. This act drew comparisons with the Roman statesman Cincinnatus and reassured contemporaries that republican liberty could survive military success.
Washington later presided over the Constitutional Convention and strongly supported the ratification of the Constitution. The government he helped establish was likewise conservative in character. Rather than embracing radical democracy, it balanced popular participation with institutional checks and balances, federalism, an independent judiciary, and protections for property and law. The resulting constitutional order sought stability, moderation, and ordered liberty rather than sweeping social transformation.
As the first president of the United States (1789–1797), Washington strengthened the authority of the new federal government while respecting constitutional limits. His most famous act of political magnanimity came when he voluntarily retired after two terms, despite widespread support for his continued leadership. By relinquishing power peacefully, he established a norm of limited executive tenure that became a cornerstone of republican government and influenced democratic states around the world.
Washington’s legacy rests on military leadership, constitutional statesmanship, and personal restraint. More than any single achievement, his willingness to surrender power— both as a general and as a president — helped legitimize constitutional self-government and provided the West with a remarkable example of republican virtue. His place in history is well deserved both for his brilliance in battle, and his humility in leadership. (Personally, I think it’s a crime we can’t call him ‘Sir’ George Washington, but one doesn’t exactly win honours from the monarch for leading a revolution, no matter how based.)
Verse: 'Patriotism’ by Sir Walter Scott
BREATHES there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.
‘Patriotism’ is only a part of the final canto in Sir Walter Scott’s longer work, Lay of the Last Minstrel, set in the 17th c. Scottish borderlands. The poem was published in 1805 to wide acclaim.
Pensées
First Principles – our initial propositions or starting points are also known as first principles. In logic, first principles are crucial, because without them, it would be impossible to make any inferences. Similarly, a worldview that lacks foundational commitments may struggle to maintain coherence and consistency. We need a firm basis on which to construct reality; if we insist that there is no such basis, truth can be construed as relative, and our ability to reason is impaired.
Q: In the West today, first principles have largely left the chat. But they provided the starting point for many of the assumptions that were baked-in to Western Civilisation. Is it necessary for us to recover sight of them?
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Diversions
Check out these handsomely illustrated postcards depicting Banff & Lake Louise in the 1920s.
Watch: this tiny company in Denmark is dedicated to making the most beautiful books in the world. (5 min)
The Best of the West will run you through most of them, but it’s also nice to have a comprehensive list of every Roman emperor handy. (You know, in case you ever need it.)
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