Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

Although he is only referred to as Lafayette, the Frenchman’s full name and title was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. When he enters the story told in Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, he is a headstrong, wealthy, recently orphaned teenager. He craved father figures and “tended to confuse glory with love” (31).

Vowell compares Lafayette’s ambition and lust for glory to that of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States and another man who found the idea of sitting on the sidelines during a war unbearable.

In America, Lafayette proved himself to be a courageous, clever, and useful soldier. He was charismatic and persuasive enough to gain the favor of powerful men like George Washington, who agreed to give him a command despite being a foreign-born teenager whose country was not yet involved in the conflict.

Lafayette also showed he was immature and emotionally callous. When the war began, he saw it as an opportunity to enrich his own life and indulge in his quest for glory. He abandoned Adrienne, his pregnant, teenage wife, leaving her alone in France while he went on his adventure. He put the American cause above his own safety and never prioritizes his family or domestic obligations.

Lafayette was also given to embellishments. Many of the letters Vowell quotes from in the book have a grandiose air and paint Lafayette in such a flattering light that it is as if he wrote them hoping they would be read and studied one day.

One of the reasons why Vowell decided to write about Lafayette is that, whatever his faults were, he was one of the few people Americans were able to agree on during the war. In a partisan country given to petty infighting, Lafayette was a symbol of common ground, courage, and devotion to the cause of American independence.

In Lafayette, Washington appears as the commander of the Continental Army and the most influential figure in Lafayette’s life. He was the teenager’s primary father figure after Lafayette arrived in America. Washington was a steadying influence, and Lafayette was occasionally capable of penetrating the leader’s legendary reserve and aloofness. Washington showed genuine affection in his letters to the Frenchman, speaking openly of his admiration for Lafayette and encouraging him.

Washington provided a stark contrast to the men who viewed the war as an adventure or opportunity to self-mythologize. Washington served as commander because he believed the war was worth fighting and that he could best command the Continental forces; therefore, it was his duty to do so.