The Way It's Supposed to Be

The Elite of the Founding v The Elite of Today

During the Founding Period of America, roughly from the 1760s to the 1820s, the elite of society served for the good of the country, sacrificing their time, wealth, and in some cases, their lives. While American colonists from all walks of life gave in immeasurable ways to the Revolutionary Cause, many members in the elite part of society that pledged their “lives, (our) fortunes, and (our) sacred honor” for the cause of independence from England. The signers of the Declaration were fully aware they may have been signing their death warrant. As reported by Benjamin Rush (in the book Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis), a conversation between Elbridge Gerry and Benjamin Harrison just after the Declaration had been sent off to the printer, occurred as follows. “I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry,” said Harrison, “when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.” Rush recalled that the comment “procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.” In beginning of the Constitutional era, service in the Legislative and Executive branches were seen as a “donation of time” from the best people and they would then return to the private sector. It was not the lifelong career path it is today.

Perhaps no one exemplified this dedication to their country more than the indispensable man of the Revolution himself, George Washington.

As a young man, he served as a British officer, despite being a wealthy Virginia Planter (until the election of Trump, he was the wealthiest of US Presidents - most of his wealth in land, not liquid assets). For his service in the French and Indian War and in the American Revolution, he earned the reputation as bulletproof for repeatedly putting himself at the front of the battle yet never being wounded, despite having bullet (ball bearing) fragments ending up in his hair, bullet holes in his coats, and having multiple horses shot out from underneath him. Near the end of the war, he quelled a small rebellion of sorts from some Continental officers frustrated with Congress for not being paid. Before he began addressing them, he stated, “Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for, I have grown not only gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.” Many officers reportedly teared up as they realized the sacrifice he had made, without pay, to win independence.

He had to be convinced to be the president of the Constitutional Convention and also to run for a second term as president. Thomas Jefferson implored him to run a second time because the nation was still in a nascent state and in danger of falling into disunity. According to Jefferson, the Secretary of State, Washington was the only one who could unify the country. Washington acquiesced, and was unanimously elected for the second time, the only president to ever do so. Washington could have, if he wanted, served as many terms as President as he chose. However, he willingly stepped down from the highest office in the land after only two terms, setting a precedent that held until broken by FDR in the 1930s. The precedent was in honor of the example set by Washington.

One of the greatest examples of his sense of service, in my opinion, was during the Whiskey Revolution of 1794. According to the Mount Vernon website, “in January 1791, President George Washington's Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton proposed a seemingly innocuous excise tax ‘upon spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same.’ When news of the tax spread to Western Pennsylvania, individuals immediately voiced their displeasure by refusing to pay the tax. Residents viewed this tax as yet another instance of unfair policies dictated by the eastern elite that negatively affected American citizens on the frontier.

Western farmers felt the tax was an abuse of federal authority wrongly targeting a demographic that relied on crops such as corn, rye, and grain to earn a profit. However, shipping this harvest east was dangerous because of poor storage and dangerous roads. As a result, farmers frequently distilled their grain into liquor which was easier to ship and preserve. While large-scale farmers easily incurred the financial strain of an additional tax, indigent farmers were less able to do so without falling into dire financial straits.

President Washington sought to resolve this dispute peacefully. In 1792, he issued a national proclamation admonishing westerners for their resistance to the ‘operation of the laws of the United States for raising revenue upon spirits distilled within the same.’ However, by 1794 the protests became violent. In July, nearly 400 whiskey rebels near Pittsburgh set fire to the home of John Neville, the regional tax collection supervisor. Left with little recourse and at the urgings of Secretary Hamilton, Washington organized a militia force of 12,950 men and led them towards Western Pennsylvania, warning locals ‘not to abet, aid, or comfort the Insurgents aforesaid, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.’”

Read that again. The sitting President of the United States led a militia force of nearly 13,000 men onto the battlefield. Luckily, the violent protesters dispersed prior to armed conflict, likely due in part to Washington’s presence.

While no one should expect the Commander in Chief today to actually lead the military on the battlefield, the idea that the best and brightest would sacrifice personal gain for public service should be promulgated once more. Instead of serving in Congress or the Executive for personal gain and for decades, enriching themselves (and sometimes friends and family) along the way, we should encourage leaders from the private sector to lend their expertise, for a time, to the betterment of our country. Recently, despite controversy, some are doing so. One needs to look no further than Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, two highly successful businessmen who are about to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), without pay, with the goal of saving tax payer funds and streamlining the government. Even Donald Trump, a highly polarizing figure no doubt, falls into this category. While many doubt his motives for doing so, one could argue that he fits this mold as he has not only lost a quarter of his net worth by running and serving as president (donating his presidential salary), he has done so despite years of taxing investigations, libelous and slanderous accusations, suspect prosecutions, and even multiple attempts on his life. He could very easily be retired on a yacht somewhere enjoying his billions, but instead he works tirelessly for the American people. Perhaps he is more like those of the founding generation that he gets credit for.