Did George Washington really only serve two terms simply because he thought it was best for the country? I find it hard to believe that any person, would willingly give up power. They almost always fall victim to the belief, rightly or wrongly, that they are the best person to lead.
Is there any reason to believe he may have been pressured to only serve two terms or that the job was becoming too much of a burden to him?
I dont think we can call it altruism. For him it was belonging to something bigger than oneself and that's evident in his actions but perhaps most notably in his farewell address. And the amazingly unbelievable retirement was when he resigned his commission as General of the Army, years before he even became president.
But the reason he stopped at two terms? He thought he would be dead by the next election, and it turns out he was correct. His father died in his mid 40s, his half-brother only in his 30s. And other siblings didn't even make it that long (although he died at 67). He had knocked on deaths door twice as president. Although he was able to dodge the most deadly outbreak in all Pennsylvanian history (still to this day) by fleeing the city along with Congress and our federal government in the Yellow Fever Outbreak of August 1793, he had already had his major scares by that time. Only months after his election he had to undergo surgery for a tumor, and the recovery was six weeks. Soon it was back in the same spot.
In May of 1790 even doctors thought he would die;
About five oclock in the afternoon yesterday, the physicians disclosed that they had no hopes of [Washington's] recovery. - Theodore Sedgwick, 16 May 1790
He had the flu, and it was bad. Then he began to sweat it out, and by morning a miraculous improvement had happened. Shortly after he would write;
I have already had within less than a year, two severe attacks—the last worse than the first—a third more than probable will put me to sleep with my fathers; at what distance this may be I know not. Within the last twelve months I have undergone more, and severer sickness than thirty preceding years afflicted me with, put it altogether—I have abundant reason however to be thankful that I am so well recovered; though I still feel the remains of the violent affection of my lungs—The cough, pain in my breast, and shortness in breathing not having entirely left me.
He also knew that if he died in office he would set a trend, something he was ever so presently aware of in all his actions, and in this specific it would result in the perception of being elected continuously for life. And based on the fact that no president served more than two terms until FDR, he was probably correct in that opinion.
I previously answered a very similar question, [To what degree did Washington's decision to step down after 2 terms have to do with his desire to encourage future presidents to do the same vs. other potential reasons, such as he was exhausted from leadership or just wanted to enjoy the rest of his life away from the constant struggle of politics?] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/j8c8t3/to_what_degree_did_washingtons_decision_to_step/) which you may find interesting to read, along with a link in it to a post on what he did as president which includes several quotes regarding his concern of setting precedents as the first president and a substantial portion of his farewell address, which I'll include below (but you should check out both links anyway!).
... The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.
... The name of american, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
... your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other...
...With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes...
He concludes;
... I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
George Washington's Farewell Address, September 17, 1796
E for farewell quote.
The job was a burden to him before it began. George Washington wanted nothing more than to retire to and manage his plantation Mount Vernon. Washington wanted to live the rest of his days in peace and comfort. He had hoped that he'd done his part to make America a steadfast country. Instead, divisions threatened to destroy the country almost as soon as it had begun. He made several attempts at retirement that were repeatedly thwarted.
Washington was around forty-three years old when he become the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. The army experienced significant hardships for reasons such as lack of supplies, disorganization, rampant disease, and harsh exposure to elements. During this period there was nearly a military insurrection and whispers of a plot to install Washington as king of America. Washington was mortified and during a meeting of conspirators he showed up unexpectedly. He started to address the men then seemed to falter, and then for the first time in front of his men he pulled out a pair of glasses. Washington said, "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country. " The unexpected situation, Washington's eloquence, the poignant show of vulnerability and reminder of the respected commander's sacrifice worked. The insurrection was averted and eventually Washington resigned his own commission as commader and returned to Mount Vernon to retire.
When he was told, to his deep chagrin, he was likely to be elected president he soon formed reasons he absolutely didn't want to be. He was going on fifty-seven, so he felt himself quite old. Washington really did want to live and die at peace in his homestead with his family. He felt it would cause issues with certain individuals and his reputation. And he wasn't confident that he was the best man for the job. But Washington was a man universally respected and admired, and someone who both sides of an increasingly growing divide could select. Ever dutiful and reluctant to risk the safety of the newly formed country he'd fought and worked so hard for, Washington submitted and reluctantly acquiesced when elected. He wrote to a man named John Knox his feelings about his upcoming presidency.
"My movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution; so unwilling am I."
Washington compared himself to a prison being dragged to his execution. He was truly, genuinely not pleased to be president.
He served two terms and while he was met with a welcome to presidency that bordered on a coronation, by the end of his terms his popularity had taken a hit. Washington wanted to set strong, decent precendents for future presidents to follow. He didn't want the president to be a de facto king. And he had wanted to stop being president before he'd started. Washington reached a point that seemed a more than natural stopping place. He felt he had done his best and there was no more he could give except to establish a precendent of bowing out within a reasonable period. Washington was very pleased to go to his final retirement. He wasn't a man who craved power, he had risked his life so that he and others could live freely, and he wanted to set only good examples for the men who would follow him after.