The Bullet That Was Not Fired

This is Steven Petrick Posting.

One of the mysteries of life that cannot be defined is how much things can depend on just one solitary individual.

In our history, such an individual was George Washington.

Even after you discard the many myths our history has about him (throwing a dollar across the Potomac, chopping down the cherry tree and saying "Father, I cannot tell a lie" as examples) there is a great deal remaining.

He was a man who won a war, but declined a crown (his officers offered to make him king at the end of the Revolutionary War) for example.

There can be little doubt that he was central to holding the American Army, such as it was, together. Through a combination of not just discipline (he was as harsh as he thought he needed to be when circumstances dictated), but by remembering that his soldiers were men and appealing to their hearts.

Without him, there is little chance that we would have won our independence. Without him, we might have become another monarchy had we won (would the General who replaced him have turned down the chance to be a King?).

At one point, Major Fergueson apparently had George Washington plainly in his sights and needed only to squeeze his trigger. On that day, he forbore to fire on a man who, though an enemy, was simply going about his business as a fellow officer and gentleman.

The fate of our entire country, and world history, literally spins from that one bullet that was not fired.