It is my recollection that Washington was considered a number of  
times, and went out of his way to discourage it. And that there was a  
"plot" hatched by Horatio Gates(?). That was scotched by Lafayette  
preempting with a toast to the United States. This may or may not have  
taken place at the Golden Plough Tavern in York, PA. On the other hand  
it may all be local legend.

On Oct 12, 2008, at 4:40 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> David--
>
> Do you recall who floated that idea--and where and when and so on?
>
> It would not surprise me overly if some conservative Americans  
> broached the notion--but I am curious to the particular context.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Kevin
>
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:14:08 -0400
>> From: David Kiracofe <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: Re: New Subject
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> And if the consensus choice for the first American monarch was  
>> George Washington, his lack of offspring would have made resolving  
>> the succession a question of some importance.
>>
>> As to the universal rejection of monarchy, however, wasn't the idea  
>> floated of inviting some European princeling -- German of some sort  
>> I think -- to become the monarch?  Attempting to elevate a commoner  
>> to monarchy --even an admired commoner like GW -- was not exactly  
>> going to inspire the kind of stability and order that conservative  
>> monocrats would seek by having a monarchy in the first place.
>>
>> Just two cents worth for the pot.
>>
>> David Kiracofe

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