[Dr_Birdbrain]

George Washington was dubbed “The American Cincinnatus”. Cincinnati was named in honor of George Washington being like Cincinnatus. That should tell you everything you need to know.

[WalterBright]

Thanks. It tells me we need to go all the way back to 500 BC to find another example.

It shows how rare this is.

[Teever]

Or it shows us that it's relatively rare that someone gets the opportunity to pass up power in this sort of fashion.

More often what happens is that leaders make small and often imperceptible choices to not amass more power over time, and that series of choices prevent the scenario like what you're describing from occurring.