“George Washington intentionally left no heir so that the United States could exist without a hereditary monarch.”
That has to be historical lore. With no children born to the couple Washington was shooting blanks his entire married life. Martha had kids from her prior marriage and was well beyond child bearing years by the time George became President.
You’re probably right, it’s likely an outgrowth of his exchanges with Nicola and the Newburgh Conspiracy.
It was just the way I was taught 5 decades ago..
But it’s clear he squelched any idea of his being a monarch and although he did have brothers with children they were never possessed of the idea of asserting any hereditary right.
But my comment about Bush stands. Political families become much more. We need no neo-monarchial aristocracy, hereditary or not.