[chrchang523]

Rare virtue, but I wouldn’t say it was unprecedented: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Quinctius_Cincinnatus

[WalterBright]

I didn't know about him, thanks. But it illustrates my point - you had to reach back two thousand five hundred years to find an example.

[andrepd]

France-Albert René, Jerry Rawlings. Couple of 20th century examples of autocrats who yielded their power to democratic rule.

[WalterBright]

> France-Albert René

I'm not impressed. He took a dictatorship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France-Albert_Ren%C3%A9

> Jerry Rawlings

Not impressed with him,either. He took it back: "After handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on 31 December 1981 as the chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Rawlings

[8note]

Theres not a big sample size to pick from.

How many people have led armies fighting British, let alone beat them?

[WalterBright]

The sample size is people who led successful revolutions. There are plenty in history you can compare Washington to.

[sifar]

For the record, there is also Scipio. But yes, very few people in all of history who voluntarily stepped back when offered absolute power.