Lafayette by Harlow Giles Unger

I love the story of Lafayette, and once again, it's a story that I knew very little about.  This is doubly surprising since I've read so many books that involved him, mostly on the American Revolution, but more recently that of the French Revolution.  It turns out that he was a towering figure in both.

Lafayette was one of France's wealthiest, youngest aristocrats of the 18th century, and he risked it all to join the American revolution.  True, he had a lust for adventure and heroics, and stemmed from a long line of adventurers and military heroes in his family.  But to risk it all - including $1.6 million (in today's value) spent on the American cause - speaks volumes to Lafayette's altruistic character.  It wasn't just a quest for personal glory.

He arrived in America without knowing anyone.  In time he met Washington, volunteered his services without pay, and most notably, earned Washington's deep, personal respect and gratitude.  Washington had countless European notables throwing themselves at his service, but Lafayette was distinctively different.  He sought to serve Washington and the American cause without qualification.  And over time he became one of the war's most successful, pivotal generals, playing a lead role in the Battle of Yorktown that clinched the American cause.

Regarding the French Revolution, I didn't realize that Lafayette was a central figure in the early stages of political reform in pre-evolutionary France.  During the Assembly of Notables, the congress assembled by the king to find a solution to the country's approaching bankruptcy, Lafayette was the first to call for the National Assembly to meet. The hall was aghast at the notion, but Lafayette realized that the Notables were themselves the problem, and therefore not in a position to correct it. The National Assembly would circumvent the Notables, the elite if France. In retrospect I don't see how Lafayette could have survived such a momentous declaration, either politically or literally.

Lafayette was regarded as the man who started the French Revolution through this dramatic call to reform.  He lived the rest of his life seeking to achieve French liberty in the wake of America's liberation.  He was not to see it occur during his lifetime.

Lafayette idolized George Washington and followed in his footsteps in so many ways.  They were both great generals, leaders of men in noble military pursuits.  But Lafayette deliberately and repeatedly turned down offices of political leadership in revolutionary France.  Unlike Washington, who followed the American Revolution by becoming its first president, guiding the country through its rocky, formative stages with stoic leadership and integrity, Lafayette shunned any such role.

This surprised me repeatedly throughout his story, particularly in light of his idolization of Washington.  And it's very possible that the French Revolution could have succeeded - saving millions of lives in the process - if Lafayette had put his personal morals aside and assumed political leadership following the fall of the Bastille.  Many begged him to lead the political process at that point.  It would have required him to rule autocratically for a time, something he abhorred to his core.  But only a man of his high morals would walk away from political leadership once a new constitution was enacted by the people.

Much as he mirrored Washington in his military brilliance, he mirrored Jefferson in his love and pursuit of liberty for all.  Washington was a man of action, not of words, while Jefferson was a man of ideas, forging them into powerful writings.  Lafayette bridged this divide between the two great founding fathers, fighting with both his sword and his pen.

Lafayette's unmatched legacy in America was underscored by a 13 month tour of the country he took in 1824-1825.  It had been some 40 years since his previous visit to America and many of his closest compatriots were dead by then (Washington, Greene, Hamilton, Franklin).  He was toasted, feted, paraded and celebrated every single day on that tour, much like a popal visit today, but this one continuing unabated for more than a year.

One of my favorite stories was from this farewell tour when he arrived at Monticello.  He and Jefferson embraced on the steps after so many years of separation, now looking upon one another as old men.  Shortly thereafter Madison arrived unexpectedly from his nearby plantation at Montpelier.  The three founding fathers reveled in one another's presence and spent four days reminiscing and enjoying their high company in uproariously high spirits.  Literally.  Apparently they enjoyed it so much that they drank Jefferson's wine cellar dry.  Wow, to be a fly on the wall at Monticello during that visit.

Lafayette remains today an unsung hero, in a similar vein as Alexander Hamilton, simply because he never served as a head of state.  But he accomplished so much more than most who have held such a role.