I know there were no term limits at the time and he could have been president until he died, but lets say he wanted to proclaim himself king. Could he have pulled it off? He was extremely popular, would the anti-monatchiats be able to prevent that? Would it lead to a civil war?
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>Could he have pulled it off?
Probably. He was a better statesman than he was a general. He most certainly wouldn't have wanted to though. He didn't even want to be president for a second term but he was kind of pushed into the chair by a unanimous vote. He preferred to live out his days on his comfy farm, but the buttholes didn't let him do that because they badgered him to do something about a rebellion years later when he was nearing old age.
>He was extremely popular, would the anti-monatchiats be able to prevent that? Would it lead to a civil war?
Probably not. The nation wasn't really as centralized. It would've been easy to prevent him from controlling every single state entirely. Anything close to a civil war would've been very short.
Yes. It's widely agreed upon that George Washington had absolute power in his hands if he wanted it but walked away much like Cincinnatus 2000 years earlier.
He wasn't that popular after the Whiskey Rebellion
He could, but Jefferson would lead a revolt against him
Whenever this is taught in American schools they always say he could have easily declared himself king, mostly due to him having the personal loyalty of the army.
He could have sure, but he wouldn't have been George Washington in the first place if he ever had that kind of ambition.
Basically this, it's the equivalent of asking "Ok but what if Hitler decided to step down and disband the NSDAP and hold fair elections in Germany?"
>Would it lead to a civil war?
I don't think so. There was a solid enough pro-monarchy sentiment and George Washington was way more popular than Congress. Hamilton flirted with some pro-monarchist ideas even under a Prussian king, so it wasn't far reaching. A third of Americans were neutral and didn't care, a third were Loyalists who were irrelevant, and last third were Revolutionaries who sort of liked George Washington.
I think the biggest issue is succession. Washington was probably infertile from smallpox, so he had no heir. George Washington's stepson didn't command anywhere near the respect George himself did, and that's assuming he didn't die of fever on campaign. Washington already had no direct heirs, and no living stepchildren after 1781. Part of this lack of heir is why Washington was a popular choice for President among some since he himself couldn't establish a dynasty.
>Hamilton flirted with some pro-monarchist ideas even under a Prussian king,
That would be so kino if America switched hands to Germany after the revolution and we fought for the central powers in WWI and then Hitler in WWII.
Conceivably and there were actually people who wanted to do that, presuming it wasn't just early pro Republican propaganda.
He was always terribly ambitious and very good at hiding it. And at the end of his second term when he declined to run again, no one argued with his decision. There was some serious Washington fatigue. And in retirement he was quite antsy. Faced with the prospect of war with France, Adams charged the retired Washington with building an army. He relished this new purpose and was quite depressed when the prospective war never materialized.
Who invited Gore Vidal into the thread!?
Read First and Always by Peter Henrique.
>becoming a king with no children
Enjoy your king John Parke Custis.
Read Wood's "Empire of Liberty," it talks a lot about the attitudes that the Americans had toward monarchy upon the country's inception
yes. all the LATAM countries would be duchys and kingdoms, even today, if America didn't constantly step in and provide correction
The Anti-Administration Party had a majority in the House by the start of his second term, and he had plenty of prominent critics, Jefferson chief among them. Obviously impossible to predict whether it would be enough for him to go un-couped before his death (which came only 2 years after his second term anyways), but anyone who supported Washington and attempted to succeed him would have been viciously attacked, and the already fairly radical base of the Dem-Reps would have been inflamed even more.