Humility and Arguing with Superiors
“Strive not with your Superiors in Argument, but always Submit your Judgment to others with Modesty.” Throughout his military career Washington had superiors over him to pass judgment on his performance of his duties and to whom he needed to offer the proper deference, even when he knew they were wrong. As the Commander of the newly formed Continental Army Washington was aware of the difficulties of defending New York from the British in the absence of a Navy, and so advised Congress, to whom he reported. They would not have New York left undefended and after he made his advice, Washington complied with his “superiors.”
Similarly, many years before, Washington provided advice to General Braddock which was heard but remained unheeded. When Braddock’s folly led to the debacle on the Monongahela in 1755, Washington took over command of the shattered British army as it withdrew. He wrote of the catastrophe but without claiming that had his advice been followed the British would have prevailed. It was Washington’s style as a commander to hold councils of war with his senior officers, and though the final decision was his he often heeded their advice.
Along with compliance to the directives of a superior, the Rules of Civility state that one should not, “…Teach your equal in the art himself Professes; it Savours of Arrogance.” Trying to tell someone how to conduct their business is a temptation too easily yielded to and often leads to conflict which could otherwise be avoided. It would be something like telling a coachbuilder what type of wood to use when building a coach. From that it can be gleaned that Washington may have copied all 110 Rules of Civility, but did not necessarily adhere to all of them or assign them the same importance.
One of the Rules of Civility advises that it is unwise to address all people in the same manner, and that the amount of ceremony involved during a conversation is dependent upon with whom one is conversing. “…for it is absurd to act the same with a Clown and with a Prince,” reads Rule 42. Humility should also be practiced when one receives good news by not expressing happiness before another who has not been so fortunate. “Do not express Joy before one sick or in pain for that contrary Passion will aggravate his misery.”
Much of Washington’s shaping of the office of the Presidency and his management of his closest aides, most of them much younger than he, can be found in the Rules of Civility. It was during his Presidency, especially in his second term, in which the factions of political parties emerged in the United States. Washington viewed party factions as divisive and warned repeatedly against them, but as they slowly splintered his administration and the Congress he continued to listen to both sides of issues and respond to counsel based on what he believed the Constitution – his superior – told him to do.