f The Wittenberg Door: Washington: A President, Not a King

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Commenting on Christendom, culture, history, and other oddities of life from an historic Protestant perspective.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Washington: A President, Not a King

Here’s my list of the three greatest American presidents:

  • Washington—for not becoming a king

  • Lincoln—for holding this country together during its greatest crises

  • Reagan—for restoring America back to her better self and for defeating the Soviet Union

“The Greatest Mischiefs”

Although our founding fathers had just cast-off the bonds of a king, there was a movement, especially among the military, to make Washington a king. This is exampled in a letter Washington received from Fort Mifflin’s former commander, Colonel Lewis Nicola.

Citing the unrest among the ranks due to Congress' inability to pay them, Nicola suggested to Washington that he use the military to make him, Washington, king.

To a lesser man, the temptation might be overwhelming. But Washington was no ordinary man. Washington responded with a brief and sharply worded letter:

No occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army . . . I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity [an idea that was] big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country.

Thanks Be to God for Washington, Scottish Presbyterians, and John Calvin

Praise be to God for His bringing forth and preserving our great nation, and for the stoutness of Washington’s character. We should also praise Him for the means He used to plant the seeds that grew into our form of government: John Calvin (particularly book four of the Institutes), Scottish Presbyterians, and, ultimately, the Scriptures. To God be the glory.

--The Catechizer

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