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Why George Washington Was "capo dei capi" Among the Founding Fathers, the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny

     "capo dei capi"- a Mafioso term, boss of bosses- One of the puzzling enigmas about the Founding Fathers (Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Adams, Madison)  is why they deferred to Washington? He was not a particularly great general; in retrospect he seems dull, pedestrian and aloof(his best friend was his slave). He literally botched the New York campaign against Howe...why wasn't he fired then? Or at Valley Forge? Why did they need him? Why would the Revolution need an incompetent General? He certainly was not a Cromwell.....but then again, maybe he was. The Revolution needed Washington because he was a mean s.o.b......in fact, this Blogger believes, he was the meanest of all the Founding Fathers. They deferred to him, because they were afraid of him. The incident revealing Washington's meanness  was the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny.  There was a mutiny among the Pennsylvania troops; Washington crushed it, without too much effort. He then ordered the court martial of th