Even before the Roman Empire, all people in public life had to spend time in the military. In the Roman Republic you were elected to office, by a very limited voting pool, which included your military connections. It was thought of as more civil than the Roman Kings, who got to be in charge by right of military force.
The Empire grew out of the Dictatorship, which had been a title you were appointed to for a limited term. The term limits went out the window, and they never really established an orderly transition. It was ad hoc for four centuries. They had hardly two successions in a row decided the same way.
Americans, by contrast, prided themselves on their rules. They explicitly contrast themselves with the UK, which had a hereditary monarch. They pride themselves on their orderly democratic transitions.
It helps that George Washington voluntarily limited his term. I believe that his decision not to run again is one of the most important events in history. Americans have almost literally deified Washington; there's an incredibly embarrassing statue of him dressed as Zeus in the Smithsonian.
Washington was a military leader who respected the orderly transition, and that had been a huge part of American self-image. For a military leader to use the military to seize power would be almost unthinkable.
Even before the Roman Empire, all people in public life had to spend time in the military. In the Roman Republic you were elected to office, by a very limited voting pool, which included your military connections. It was thought of as more civil than the Roman Kings, who got to be in charge by right of military force.
The Empire grew out of the Dictatorship, which had been a title you were appointed to for a limited term. The term limits went out the window, and they never really established an orderly transition. It was ad hoc for four centuries. They had hardly two successions in a row decided the same way.
Americans, by contrast, prided themselves on their rules. They explicitly contrast themselves with the UK, which had a hereditary monarch. They pride themselves on their orderly democratic transitions.
It helps that George Washington voluntarily limited his term. I believe that his decision not to run again is one of the most important events in history. Americans have almost literally deified Washington; there's an incredibly embarrassing statue of him dressed as Zeus in the Smithsonian.
Washington was a military leader who respected the orderly transition, and that had been a huge part of American self-image. For a military leader to use the military to seize power would be almost unthinkable.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_honorum