At the time George Washington was wanted by the country to run again (and again.)
Back to your Machiavelli readings....who would have presided over a more just, libertine government:
George Washington in a totalitarian dictatorship, or Barack Obama in the current kleptocracy we have now?
Washington would have kept the Federal Government limited and checked. Obama uses the complexity of the federal system to constrain liberty.
Put simply, it is not the form of government, but the character of the people comprising the government.
And that means in a representative republic, the people. Granted, our Constitution has done more to restrain the evil exploits of bad character, but I disagree with this old saying:
The Constitution CAN BE a suicide pact if "we the people" become too depraved.
Just to clarify, are you missing a “not” somewhere?
You state that it is the character of the people, but then you say you disagree with the Constitution becoming a suicide pact if the people become too depraved.
It is for us, fellow citizens, to watch over the sacred legacy of our venerated Fathers, and, when necessary, ‘to provide other guards for the future security’ of ourselves and our posterity. To restore, when impaired, our free institutions to their original strength and purity, and to guard them in future against the open or covert assaults of their enemies. To preserve those institutions pure and uncontaminated, amidst the dangerous and corrupting influences of those who, guided not by the spirit of virtue and patriotism, seek only their own personal interests and personal aggrandizement is a sacred and solemn duty which we own to ourselves, and to those who are destined to walk after us.
Nathan Smith
We have ignored his sage advise for FAR to long!