March, 1826
“I have been honored to look for the first time on the noble features of the man who did so much good on behalf of the New World....I experienced a mysterious exhilaration on learning in the newspapers that you had had the generosity of heart to honor me with one of the treasures from Mount Vernon...There are no words to tell you how much my heart treasures this gift...Washington's family honors me beyond any aspirations my imagination could conceive...”
Bolivar's words were dignity personified. And Chavez? Of course one of Bolivar's many strengths was the art of coalition building and he knew how to appeal to different kinds of people. He was also slender, fit, energetic, and capable of self-denial.
Toward the end of his life, Bolivar commented on his failure to establish democracy in South America, due to the culture there. He said that North America must be filled with angels.