WI: George Washington Leaves Office After One Term?

[napoleon IV]

By the end of his first term George Washington was feeling pretty sick of politics and being President. He planned on not running for a second term (going so far as to have James Madison draft a farewell message in 1792), but was convinced to run again because he felt he was the only person who could maintain unity. But what if for whatever reason he'd decided to exit office after one term? I can see it going one of two ways: either he sets the precedent that the President only serves one term, or there is no precedent set and we have a situation where it's common for popular candidates to seek more than 2 terms. The first option would probably push Presidents to be more aggressive in getting their agenda passed, since they only have one term to do it and don't have to worry about reelection. The second option could create problems in periods of national crisis, allowing a less-than-democratic leader to concentrate power (although there would probably be a term limit amendment at some point like IOTL).

 

[Beata Beatrix]

1792 would almost certainly be between Adams and Jefferson, although I could certainly see Burr (who's only barely old enough) making a run for it. If no one gets a majority, it'll certainly be disastrous, as it nearly was IOTL.

 

[Md139115]

Washington honestly should have died in his first term. Less than a few months after taking office, he contracted an infection in his thigh that swelled up to a boil "two fistfuls in size." Most of his contemporaries thought that he wasn't long for this world, with Madison writing “His death at the present moment would have brought on another crisis in our affairs.” I theorize that this near-death scare though, made people start thinking all the way back then about what the country would look like post-Washington, such that if he decides to not run again in 1792, while it would be a more dangerous situation than 1796, it probably would not be catastrophic. I also suspect that the two term limit might evolve organically without him; Adams is too irascible to last more than a single term, while Jefferson or Hamilton or Madison would probably announce that they're running again just to bring some sense into the system.


https://uschs.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/george-washingtons-brush-with-death-part-1/

https://uschs.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/george-washingtons-brush-with-death-part-2/