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The father of our country
Honoring George Washington
Paul Hawkins
Issue date: 2/24/09 Section: Opinion
For those that haven't realized it, Feb. 22 is George Washington's birthday. His birthday has been reduced to being celebrated as a combination day with Abraham Lincoln. Not too bad for some, but I am against it.
Washington should get his own day, and everyone in the country should know his birthday and celebrate it. Washington is the father of our country. We are what we are today because of his leadership and character. He was not a perfect man, but he was what the nation needed at its most critical hour.
The "John Adams" HBO miniseries is an example of how we have recently begun to take a new look at our founding fathers. We've begun to look at their personal lives, their character and their relationships. We've started to see what made them "tick," so to speak.
Washington is no exception. He was, by all accounts, an honorable man of Virginia nobility. He met and married Martha Custis when they were both in their mid-20s. Through surviving letters, it has been shown that he loved his wife very much, and together they had a great marriage. He was over six feet tall and one of the best dancers in the colonies. Like his fellow founding father Thomas Jefferson, Washington was a true "Renaissance man." He was a surveyor, planter, soldier, politician and bourbon distiller (Mt. Vernon contained a very large whisky distillery). What is of the most importance to the nation at that time, and even now, was the leadership he provided.
Washington was not an intellectual like Jefferson or Franklin. Washington never authored any pamphlets or any of our great founding documents, as did others. The nation didn't need any more thinkers at that time -- it needed a leader. Washington was the unifying figure that led the colonies in the Revolution.
He was not the greatest military strategist, but as commander in chief of the Continental Army, Washington was able to take an army of common men with little military training and lead them to victory over the world's premier empire. He was their leader, the embodiment of their cause. This leadership was again on display at the Constitutional Convention some years later. He was a unifying influence that made the quarrelsome delegates come to the necessary compromises that produced our founding document -- the Constitution.
Washington should get his own day, and everyone in the country should know his birthday and celebrate it. Washington is the father of our country. We are what we are today because of his leadership and character. He was not a perfect man, but he was what the nation needed at its most critical hour.
The "John Adams" HBO miniseries is an example of how we have recently begun to take a new look at our founding fathers. We've begun to look at their personal lives, their character and their relationships. We've started to see what made them "tick," so to speak.
Washington is no exception. He was, by all accounts, an honorable man of Virginia nobility. He met and married Martha Custis when they were both in their mid-20s. Through surviving letters, it has been shown that he loved his wife very much, and together they had a great marriage. He was over six feet tall and one of the best dancers in the colonies. Like his fellow founding father Thomas Jefferson, Washington was a true "Renaissance man." He was a surveyor, planter, soldier, politician and bourbon distiller (Mt. Vernon contained a very large whisky distillery). What is of the most importance to the nation at that time, and even now, was the leadership he provided.
Washington was not an intellectual like Jefferson or Franklin. Washington never authored any pamphlets or any of our great founding documents, as did others. The nation didn't need any more thinkers at that time -- it needed a leader. Washington was the unifying figure that led the colonies in the Revolution.
He was not the greatest military strategist, but as commander in chief of the Continental Army, Washington was able to take an army of common men with little military training and lead them to victory over the world's premier empire. He was their leader, the embodiment of their cause. This leadership was again on display at the Constitutional Convention some years later. He was a unifying influence that made the quarrelsome delegates come to the necessary compromises that produced our founding document -- the Constitution.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Sinjun
posted 2/24/09 @ 6:49 PM EST
it's a real shame that we get off MLK's day and yet we don't get off a day to honor Washington. Now that is a disgrace.
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