Yo! George!
God's Grace surely shone upon our Founding Fathers.
Ping
Yo! George!
Founding Father BTTT
Crickets chirping.
The current George in the White House could learn some lessons from the first George. If you think the current president has it bad, consider what the founder of our country had to endure. We were not even a nation when he was fighting the British.
Read Jeff Shaara's "The Glorious Cause" if you haven't already done so. It presents an insightful view of the figures of that time -- Washington in particular.
Not to mention all his pre-Revolution service.
While I was flipping around the other night, I caught part of a program The War That Made America, that dealt Washington's command, at the age of 23, in the French and Indian Wars.
I'm tempted to tape the series, but the fact that it's a PBS show makes me wary. Despite my interest in reviewing the history of that era and the part Washington played, I'm afraid PBS will inject copious amounts of self hating PC-ness and ruin the experience for me.
Before I became painfully politically self aware, I used to enjoy PBS science and history shows. Now they invariably piss me off.
Maybe I should just find a book about it and save myself the heartburn.
It is amazing how large a part Washington played in the formation of this country, and inspirational in recognizing what a difference a SINGLE INDIVIDUAL can play in history.
He was in the right places, at the right times, doing the right things, for such a very long time, that it almost makes me believe in destiny.
Too bad (dis)Honest Abe screwed up Washington's hard work.
"Washington transformed an underfunded militia into a capable force that, although never able to take the British army head-on . . . ."
Not so. Read about the Battle of Monmouth.
"The mercury mounted to ninety-six degrees in the shade on that scorching Sunday when the battle of Monmouth was fought, and more than fifty men on each side who escaped the enemy's bullets fell by sunstroke. Scarcely fifteen minutes elapsed after Washington reached the front, before the Americans, while under fire, had formed into line of battle. Greene commanded the right wing and Lord Stirling the left, while Wayne held the center, and Knox managed the artillery. The British were soon checked, and then steadily pushed back until the Americans occupied the high ground from which Lee had retreated in the morning."
What a wonderful post! For all of the reasons mentioned here and for all of the others not mentioned, Washington remains my hero! Much more attention, much more study, much more appreciation needs to be given to this man, the father of our country, the man who could have been king, but chose our republic instead.
...And if he ran for President today either of the two major parties would throw him under the bus before his views became too widely known and he became an embarassment...
Ping.
Actually, we did exactly that, perhaps most notably at the Battle of Cowpens where the size of the forces was evenly matched. We also took on and defeated the Hessians at Bennington. And, of course, we took on and defeated the British army at Saratoga.
Washington's greatest contribution to mankind was saying that President should not serve more than two terms.
In setting this precedent, Washington established that the US would always be a democracy. Without it, some Napoleon would have come along and hijacked the democracy at some point in the past.
So, by keeping the US as a democracy, allowing its example to spread around the world, and setting the example that the Presidents and Prime Ministers should not be in power for life (and then pass the mantle on to their sons), Washington established the modern democratic government which is now being adopted slowly worldwide.
The day of the Kings and dictators and tribal chiefs and totalitarian governments is over. The human race now has a better way of governing itself thanks to Washington.
Washington was the only one of the Founding Fathers to free his slaves. They were to be freed upon the death of Martha. However, they were freed before she died because fears arose for her safety.
But long before that Washington had prohibited corporal punishment and would not break up slave families.
Though his estate was in financial trouble before his death, when the slaves were freed it completely bankrupted his estate. He was land rich, but money poor.
Being a freed slave was no easy life. At any time they could be re-enslaved, they had great difficulty finding employment or housing. A freed slave in the South was a square peg trying to fit into an socio-economic round hole.
Many chose to remain where they were on the land.
However, Jefferson, for all the grandeur that history has accorded him as being a true "democrat" (mostly because of his marvelous words in the Declaration of Independence) never freed his slaves. He, too, was bankrupt.
Thanks, wags
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Washington will always rank number 1 in my book. Ronald Reagan will always be number 2. The rest can draw lots...
And in some ways, I can agree with them but for my own reasons. If the holiday is now to be known as Presidents Day, then there are several Presidents not worth celebrating.
I will also note that Washington was not the first to turn down continuous power. The Puritan leader John Winthrop would step down from office from time to time, "an intermission designed principally to guard against a precedent, which might lead to a governor for life."