No, not the city in Ohio.
If you don’t know about Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus:
Lucius Quinctius (or Quintius) Cincinnatus (c. 519 – c. 430 BC) was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue— particularly civic virtue —by the time of the late Republic.
Cincinnatus was a conservative opponent of the rights of the plebeians (the common citizens) who fell into poverty because of his son’s violent opposition to their desire for a written code of equally enforced laws. Despite his old age, he worked his own small farm until an invasion prompted his fellow citizens to call for his leadership. He came from his plough to assume complete control over the state but, upon achieving a swift victory, relinquished his power and its perquisites and returned to his farm. His success and immediate resignation of his near-absolute authority with the end of this crisis (traditionally dated to 458 BC) has often been cited as an example of outstanding leadership, service to the greater good, civic virtue, humility, and modesty.
Can you name any other historical figure who attained absolute power over a nation… and resigned peacefully from it? There haven’t been a great many. At any rate, Cincinnatus inspired a group among the officers of the original Continental Army. The first president of the Society of the Cincinnati was a certain George Washington.
There was a real possibility that the triumphant army would proceed to establish an American monarchy. Critics charged the members of the Cincinnati with having that end in mind:
Within months of its formation, critics charged that the Society’s real purpose was to impose a hereditary aristocracy on the new republic. Members and non-members rushed to the defense of the Society, which experience proved was not a threat to liberty. The Society’s first decade was a period of energy and growth, and 2,270 officers joined the new organization. Constituent societies were organized in each of the original thirteen states and in France. The state societies met annually, typically around the Fourth of July, and most established traditions for these occasions—banquets, formal addresses, processions, and other ceremonies.
Apparently, there was a faction among the Cincinnati that favored installing Washington as King George over the newborn United States. Washington himself dissuaded them from their aim. Whether he had the character of Cincinnatus in mind as he did so, or was merely acting from his own character, we cannot know.
What we do know is that Washington himself established the tradition, long before the Twenty-Second Amendment, of limiting a president to no more than two terms. No president until the odious Franklin Delano Roosevelt departed from that tradition, though Theodore Roosevelt’s “Bull Moose” bid for a third term in 2012 is a divergence. Perhaps FDR’s thirteen-year grip on executive power taught our political class the dangers of permitting such an overextended presidency.
Today, we have a “president” who:
- Is manifestly of low personal character;
- Has persistently displayed indications of severe dementia;
- Appears to be “ruled” by his wife, son, and a small circle of advisors;
- And has stated defiantly that he will run for a second term regardless of adverse counsel.
Major figures in the Democrat Party are trying doggedly to persuade Biden to end his campaign. Some have even hinted that he should resign the presidency. Biden has trumpeted his determination to remain on campaign, despite strong indications that he cannot win. Step down while still in office? Unthinkable; the disgrace would be too much for anyone to bear… especially Jill Biden.
Perhaps this is just what one must expect from a member of our political Establishment today. The ideal of “public service” is not conspicuously served by their actions. Most grow inexplicably wealthy despite their modest salaries. They enjoy the perquisites of power without embarrassment. All are reluctant to return to their constituencies as humble residents.
Would George Washington have welcomed them into the Society of the Cincinnati? Would Cincinnatus himself have had a few words to say to them about “public service” and “civic virtue?” Perhaps most pertinent, would Cincinnatus’s counsel be comprehensible to any of them?
