• The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      There’s that, but it’s pretty well documented that GW was very, shall we say, attentive to his image. This kind of stunt casts him in a deliberately sympathetic light. Love him or hate him, he had personality.

      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        He wasn’t even trying to be promoted, either. George Washington never wanted to be president - people had to convince him after voting unanimously for him.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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          4 days ago

          It’s not so much about power - it’s generally agreed that Washington was very aware of the potential judgement of future generations, and made significant efforts, in that vein, to give a performance that they would regard positively. In other words, he wanted to be remembered as a hero - and as far as motivations for being less shitty than one’s peers go, there are definitely worse ones to be had.

  • anton
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    5 days ago

    insert cynical comment on people considering human lives to be less valuable that a dog