what was lafayette’s personality?

marq-de-laf:

Like all of us, it depended on the age and environment. As a
young man, he was awkward but tried to stay included. In all honestly,
he was a typical noble until being introduced to America. In court, he
attended parties, flirted with ladies, drank, danced…and was basically
terrible at all of it. Most of his friends thought him shy, reserved, or
brooding in his early/mid-teen years, but later he stated it was
because he was not comfortable around those that were his social betters
and admitted that he was quiet to protect his pride.

In
America, almost everyone found him to be charming, earnest, zealous,
and generally ‘warm’-natured, or in modern terms, (sometimes overly)
enthusiastic. Many people mentioned his excellent manners. Washington
often described his charm, but commented on his level-headed thinking in combat and his good judgement. While it was well-known that it was nearly impossible to get Lafayette to change his mind on something once he’d decided on it, he always deferred to older, more experienced generals when pressed or when arguments about leadership sprung up.

When Lafayette lost popularity in France, many people saw him as two-faced; whispering in the ear of the monarchy while championing the common man. The reality was that he wanted a constitutional monarchy…meaning that he wanted King Louis XVI to remain in some semblance the leader of France while simultaneously regulating his power to such an extent that he had very little say, giving others a chance to reform. Because of this, however, he lost favor with both sides of the argument…and all manner of accusations begin showing up in the literature and letters to and about him during that period.

All in all, Lafayette was a charming, optimistic, awkward, zealous, egocentric, and ambitious man who put his best foot forward in all situations and almost never met a stranger, as the saying goes. And while that sometimes gave him the appearance of talking out of both sides of his mouth, the reality is that he typically believed both opinions he gave on any given topic…he simply knew how to phrase them so that he remained in good standing with all.