The Founding Fathers, among them, George Washington, were profoundly influenced by the historical example set by the Roman Republic: they were absolutely weary of any man, though popular, competent, charismatic might be, feeling tempted to overstretch the boundaries of the power bestowed upon him by the will of the people, i.e., they were aware that a president might well feel tempted to seize absolute power and become either a dictator or a monarch. Thus, George Washington felt that staying in office for too long would cloud his judgment as appointed government official and might feel tempted to abuse his power, so he chose to step down from a third term as president to both avoid criticism pointing to his intentions to institute a dictatorship or monarchy and the potentiality of making mistakes that might harm the American Republic.
