12 of 56 · Connecticut
HUNTINGTON
A President's Guide
28 lessons. 4 chapters. In his own words.
He sat the chair when the war was ugly and the treasury empty. Glory is not required. Attendance is.
Samuel Huntington · 1731–1796 · President of Congress · governor
01
Sit the Ugly Chair
1 of 4
Take the chair when the treasury is empty.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
September 1779 to July 1781: the ugly years. No Paris, no Yorktown yet, no money. He sat it. Glory is a different furniture. Attendance is this one. If the chair is handsome, someone else already did the work. Sit the ugly one.
The first president under the Articles still answers to a room.
“The Stile of this confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'”
Articles of Confederation, in force under Huntington's gavel · 1781
March 1, 1781: the Articles finally operate. He is in the chair. Some will call him the first president. He would not have. The job is clerk of a league. Do not inflate the gavel. Use it.
Obedience to the orders of Congress is the whole presidency.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
He does not say 'I have decided.' He transmits. A wartime president of Congress who begins to decide is a problem. Be the post. Be the memory. Be the signature on other men's resolves. That is the ugly chair's honor.
Proclaim thanksgiving when there is not much to eat.
“It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart Thursday, the seventh day of December next, to be observed as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”
Thanksgiving proclamation, President of Congress · 1780
The tenth such proclamation since 1775. He signed four. Gratitude in a bad year is not naivete. It is discipline. A people that can only give thanks after Yorktown is a fair-weather republic. Set the day anyway.
If the chair is handsome, someone else already did the work. Sit the ugly one.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
September 1779 to July 1781: the ugly years. No Paris, no Yorktown yet, no money. He sat it. Glory is a different furniture. Attendance is this one. Take the chair when the treasury is empty. The empty chair is how leagues die. Sit it.
Do not inflate the gavel. Use it. The job is clerk of a league.
“The Stile of this confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'”
Articles of Confederation, in force under Huntington's gavel · 1781
March 1, 1781: the Articles finally operate. He is in the chair. Some will call him the first president. He would not have. The first president under the Articles still answers to a room. Be the post. Be the memory. Be the signature on other men's resolves.
A wartime president of Congress who begins to decide is a problem. Be the post.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
He does not say I have decided. He transmits. Obedience to the orders of Congress is the whole presidency. That is the ugly chair's honor. Transmit. Sit down. Let the army be the spectacle. The gavel is a stamp, not a scepter.
02
From the Farm
2 of 4
Leave the farm without leaving the sense.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
Farmer's son, little schooling, read law in a Norwich office. The farm is a training in limits. Weather does not care about your theory. Bring that to the chair. A congress with no farmers in it will legislate as if grain were an idea.
Self-made is a workday, not a brand.
“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The Declaration of Independence · 1776
He signed, then kept being useful: chief justice, lieutenant governor, governor until he died. The farm-to-gavel story is only interesting if the gavel stays dull and honest. Do not become a story. Remain a farmer with better paper.
Read law the way you learned weather.
“The judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent upon both.”
John Adams, Thoughts on Government — the doctrine Huntington later sat · 1776
Connecticut made him chief justice. A farm boy on a bench is not a novelty act if he has done the reading. Apply. Do not perform origins. The origin is only permission to start. The cases are the crop.
Go back to the state and govern the actual acres.
“I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
He left the continental chair and took Connecticut's for a decade. The farm is still the measure: can this government bring a harvest? If the state cannot, the continent was a rumor. Go home and prove it.
Weather does not care about your theory. Bring that to the chair.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
Farmer's son, little schooling, read law in a Norwich office. The farm is a training in limits. Leave the farm without leaving the sense. A congress with no farmers in it will legislate as if grain were an idea. Grain is not an idea. Transmit that.
Do not become a story. Remain a farmer with better paper.
“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The Declaration of Independence · 1776
He signed, then kept being useful: chief justice, lieutenant governor, governor until he died. Self-made is a workday, not a brand. The farm-to-gavel story is only interesting if the gavel stays dull and honest. Stay dull. Stay honest. Leave the brand to other men.
Apply. Do not perform origins. The cases are the crop.
“The judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent upon both.”
John Adams, Thoughts on Government — the doctrine Huntington later sat · 1776
Connecticut made him chief justice. A farm boy on a bench is not a novelty act if he has done the reading. Read law the way you learned weather. The origin is only permission to start. Then the docket. Then go home and prove the harvest.
03
Hold the States
3 of 4
A league of friendship still has to be held.
“The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them.”
Articles of Confederation · 1781
Friendship is a weak word for a war. He held it anyway until something stronger could be born. Do not despise the interim union. It is the only roof you have. Patch it. Then replace it. Do not burn it for style.
Transmit until the states remember they are one mail.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
The job is a circuit. Thirteen governments, one exhausted post. He kept the letters moving: money, men, thanksgiving, bad news. Union is a correspondence that does not stop. Stop transmitting and you have thirteen rumors.
Hold them through the year with no victories.
“It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”
Thanksgiving proclamation, President of Congress · 1780
1780 was ugly. Charleston fallen, currency dying, army unpaid. He still wrote as if there were states to address. Holding is not winning. It is refusing to let the list get shorter. Keep all thirteen on the page.
The stile is United States. Write it until they answer to it.
“The Stile of this confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'”
Articles of Confederation · 1781
A name is a policy. He presided when the name became operative. Use it in every letter. People become what they are called if you call them long enough. Call them united while they are still tempted not to be.
Do not despise the interim union. It is the only roof you have.
“The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them.”
Articles of Confederation · 1781
Friendship is a weak word for a war. He held it anyway until something stronger could be born. Patch it. Then replace it. Do not burn it for style. A league of friendship still has to be held. Holding is not winning. It is refusing to let the list get shorter.
Union is a correspondence that does not stop. Keep the letters moving.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
Thirteen governments, one exhausted post. He kept the letters moving: money, men, thanksgiving, bad news. Transmit until the states remember they are one mail. Stop transmitting and you have thirteen rumors. The circuit is the country. Feed it.
Holding is refusing to let the list get shorter. Keep all thirteen on the page.
“It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”
Thanksgiving proclamation, President of Congress · 1780
1780 was ugly. Charleston fallen, currency dying, army unpaid. He still wrote as if there were states to address. Hold them through the year with no victories. A name is a policy. Call them united while they are still tempted not to be. Write the stile until they answer to it.
04
No Theater
4 of 4
Do not be Hancock in Hancock's chair.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
Different war, different vanity budget. He did not write his name as a flag. The country already had one of those. Quiet is not absence. It is refusing to compete with the work. Transmit. Sit down. Let the army be the spectacle.
Honor, in this office, is a closing formula.
“I have the honor to be, sir.”
Letters as President of Congress · 1780
He ends every letter this way because the job is manners plus freight. Theater wants a unique closing. Quiet wants a reliable one. Be the man whose letters all look like work. Historians will call you dull. The states called you useful.
A decade as governor without a legend is a success.
“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The Declaration of Independence · 1776
Connecticut kept electing him until he died in the office in 1796. No duel, no statue-melting, no large signature. The pledge, for some men, is a long competence. That is allowed. It is also rarer than the theater.
If they cannot remember a speech, they may still have a state.
“It is therefore recommended to the several states.”
Proclamation as President of Congress · 1780
Recommended. Not thundered. He governs by sending. A people trained only on thunder will not hear a recommendation when thunder is unavailable. Practice quiet. The ugly chair requires it. So does the farm.
Quiet is not absence. It is refusing to compete with the work.
“In obedience to the orders of Congress, I have the honor to transmit.”
Circular as President of Congress · 1780
Different war, different vanity budget. He did not write his name as a flag. The country already had one of those. Do not be Hancock in Hancock's chair. Transmit. Sit down. Let the army be the spectacle. Historians will call you dull. The states called you useful.
Theater wants a unique closing. Quiet wants a reliable one.
“I have the honor to be, sir.”
Letters as President of Congress · 1780
He ends every letter this way because the job is manners plus freight. Be the man whose letters all look like work. Honor, in this office, is a closing formula. Repeat it. Unique is a tax on the freight. Do not pay it.
The pledge, for some men, is a long competence. That is allowed. It is also rarer than the theater.
“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The Declaration of Independence · 1776
Connecticut kept electing him until he died in the office in 1796. No duel, no statue-melting, no large signature. A decade as governor without a legend is a success. Practice quiet. The ugly chair requires it. So does the farm. Recommended, not thundered. A people trained only on thunder will not hear a recommendation when thunder is unavailable.