Thoughts about Presidents

I just finished reading a delightful book about Martha Washington (see sidebar) and, because her life was so inextricably intertwined with her husband's, it was a book about George Washington, too. It is apparent, as it is with all book as about George Washington, that America could not possibly have had a better first President. Indeed, any other person might have turned into a dictator along the lines of Caesar and Napoleon. Washington was incredibly dutiful, which is why he served America in the field and in the executive office. He was also painfully honest, which is probably why America, despite periodic scandals, has had a fairly honest federal government over the past two hundred plus years. Lastly, he craved domesticity, which prevented him from attempting to turn his elected role into a lifetime position. Can you imagine if Clinton had been the first President? He's not dutiful, he's self-aggrandizing; he's not honest, he's deeply corrupt; and he's certainly not domestic. His conduct since he's left the White House leaves no doubt about his unwillingness to abandon power. Had he been President in 1796, John Adams would undoubtedly have had to use force to eject him from office -- and the newly founded Democracy would have been no more. Talking to Technorati: Bill Clinton, George Washington