George Washington
Defused an army coup against the infant republic with one sentence and a pair of spectacles.
The episode
In March 1783, the unpaid officers of the Continental Army were circulating an anonymous call to turn their weapons on the civilian government. At Newburgh, New York, on March 15, Washington unexpectedly walked into their meeting and argued against the conspiracy — to limited effect. Then, fumbling to read a congressman's letter, he pulled out the eyeglasses almost none of them had seen him wear: "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country." Battle-hardened officers wept. The coup collapsed on the spot; the officers voted their loyalty, and the army that could have strangled the American republic disbanded peacefully months later.
The move — copy this today
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