In his book, 7 Men and the Secret of Their Greatness, Eric Metaxes gives a short biography of George Washington. In it, he highlights the fact that as one of the first leaders of the new nation, Washington faced what was, in effect, an unclear political situation. He had the incredible task of helping to define the political system he helped create, particularly the presidency. Many people expected him to take power as King George I of America; in fact, there was even one officer who warned of the “certain disaster that would befall postwar America unless Washington declared himself king.” Washington would have nothing of it and refused to use his military power for himself. Even the number of four-year-terms a President can serve is based on the fact that Washington refused to serve more than two. Metaxes also writes that: “Washington had no model upon which to base such decisions as how the president should dress, whom he should meet, how he should make federal appointments, whether people should curtsy or bow to him, or even what he should be called.”
America, in its inception, was a new country that was free to set up its government however it saw fit. In a similar way to the Church, it was a new era that required wisdom and discernment to live out their freedom in a healthy way.
Eric Metaxas