A Walk Through History with the Society of the Cincinnati

On Saturday, I had the honor of receiving the 2026 New Jersey Society of the Cincinnati 2026 History Prize for Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution. It was a beautiful event in one of Washington’s most historic and legendary buildings. I wanted to share a few photos.

As discussed earlier, the Society of the Cincinnati is named after Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who became Roman Consul and later dictator of Rome when it was threatened. However, when Rome was saved, he relinquished all of his powers to return to his farm. That is why the motto of the society is Omnia reliquit servare rempublicam (“He relinquished everything to serve the Republic”).

The full name of the society is the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey. It was founded in 1783 near the close of the American Revolutionary War by officers of the Continental Army. With the disbanding of the Army looming after the war, General Henry Knox and the officers pledged to keep the society going through their sons. It is the oldest organization of its kind in the United States.

It has thirteen individual societies in the United States as well as one in France, which perpetuate “the remembrance of this vast event” of the American independence, “to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature,” and “to render permanent the cordial affection subsisting among the officers” of the Continental Army who served in the Revolutionary War.

George Washington was the first President General of the Society. After he died in 1799, Alexander Hamilton became the second president. When Hamilton was killed in his famous duel,  he was succeeded by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

The General Society is headquartered (and the award dinner will be held at) the historic Anderson House in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Society has an impressive educational program teaching young people about our history and values.

I wanted to thank the Society for this honor, and I was thrilled to visit this historical gem in the middle of Washington. You can take tours, which I strongly recommend.

Here are a few photos from the event: