George Washington, Father of His Country
George Washington was our best president because he was our first president. Every step he took left an imprint, and—conscious of his impact—he chose his path with care. “I walk on untrodden ground,” he wrote in 1790. “There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent.” Washington was so cognizant of his responsibility, in fact, that his hands trembled when he gave his inaugural address.
“This great man was agitated and embarrassed,” Sen. William Maclay of Pennsylvania noted, “more than ever he was by the levelled Cannon or pointed Musket.”
Notwithstanding his agitation—which only increased with time—Washington began many of our political traditions. Witness the presidential inauguration. “There’s no requirement in the Constitution,” his biographer Ron Chernow recently told me, “only that he take the oath of office. Washington decides he’s going to take the oath in the open air before the multitude. He decides to make an inaugural address. He decides that inaugural address should be broadly thematic. He took the oath of office with his hand on the Bible. Basically, we still hew closely to the pattern of that day.”
Washington even helped Congress pick the president’s title. When the aristocratically minded Senate suggested that he accept the honorific of “His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of the Rights of the Same,” Washington wisely sided with the more egalitarian House of Representatives: “The President of the United States” would do.
Washington’s distinguishing quality was his prudence, which animated most of his decisions. During his first term from 1789 to 1793, he repaired the country’s finances by appointing as secretary of the treasury his former aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton. Because the states had refused to tax their citizens to pay for the Revolutionary War—and the Continental Congress had lacked the power to tax at all—the nation had accumulated a huge debt: $54 million. Including state debts, the total was $79 million.
Hamilton proposed that the federal government assume all the debts and fulfill its obligations in toto. In doing so, he started a political firestorm. Many war veterans had sold their apparently worthless I.O.U.s to speculators—some for as little as 15 cents on the dollar. Now, those speculators would recoup the full value. Angry at this supposed betrayal of war heroes, the future Democratic Republicans, led by Rep. James Madison of Virginia, demanded that the government pay its securities’ original owners. Hamilton knew the scheme was impossible—it would destroy the concept of property rights—and Washington lent him his support. They thereby established the United States as a creditworthy nation.
But Washington tried his best to maintain an ideological balance between his secretary of the treasury and Thomas Jefferson, his secretary of state. During his second term from 1793 to 1797, Washington grappled with foreign relations: In 1793, Great Britain and France declared war, and the U.S. found itself caught in the middle. Jefferson prodded Washington to offer his sympathies to Revolutionary France—in whom Jefferson saw the soul of the American Revolution. Hamilton, on the other hand, felt a certain brotherhood with the British.
On April 22, 1793, Washington issued what has come to be known as the Neutrality Proclamation. Wary of involvement in an European war—which could snuff the infant republic in its cradle—Washington avoided taking sides, giving the U.S. time to build its strength. In a nod to Jefferson, however, he never actually used the word “neutral” in the proclamation. For France’s help in securing American independence, the U.S. would “with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerant Powers.”
I’ve read three biographies of Washington, and my favorite is Ron Chernow’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington: A Life. To read it is to make a commitment: It’s 904 pages. But Chernow gives a full portrait of the man—foibles and all. And he does so in luscious prose. Consider his explanation of Washington’s reluctant decision to stand for a second term:
Perhaps the decisive stroke in convincing Washington to run for a second term came after a meeting with Eliza Powel that November, in which Washington said he might resign. In a masterly seven-page follow-up letter, Powel, a confirmed Federalist, gave Washington the high-toned reasons he needed to stay in office, shrewdly playing on his anxious concern for his historic reputation. If he stepped down now, she wrote, his enemies would say that “ambition had been the moving spring of all your actions—that the enthusiasm of your country had gratified your darling passion to the extent of its ability and that, as they had nothing more to give, you would run no farther risk for them.” She warned that the Jeffersonians would dissolve the Union: “I will venture to assert that, at this time, you are the only man in America that dares to do right on all public occasions.” Evidently she managed to convince Washington, who decided to stand for a second term.
The next-best volume is Joseph Ellis’s book, His Excellency: George Washington. Ellis’s focus is psychological, and his description of Washington’s progression from country planter to committed Revolutionary is the most intriguing part of the book:
While we cannot know, at least in the fullest and deepest sense, where that voice inside himself originated, it does seem to echo the resentful voice of the young colonel in the Virginia Regiment, bristling at the condescending ignorance of Lord Loudoun and the casual rejection of his request for a regular commission in the British army. It harks back to the voice of the master of Mount Vernon, lured by Cary & Company (and, truth be told, his own urge to replicate the lifestyle of an English country gentleman) into a mercantile system apparently designed to entrap him in a spiraling network of debt. (Indeed, less than a year earlier, in November 1773, when he had instructed Cary to pay off the remainder of his debt with funds from Party’s inheritance, Cary had refused, correctly claiming that the two accounts were not transferable.) The voice also resonates with the same outraged frustration he felt whenever some distant and faceless British official, the most recent version of the vile breed being Earl Hillsborough, blocked his claim for western lands, allegedly to protect Indian rights but more probably, he believed, to reserve the land for London cronies.
All of which is to suggest that Washington did not need to read books by radical Whig writers or receive an education in political theory from George Mason in order to regard the British military occupation of Massachusetts in 1774 as the latest installment in a long-standing pattern. His own ideological origins did not derive primarily from books but from his own experience with what he had come to regard as the imperiousness of the British Empire.
The last book on Washington I’ve read is James Thomas Flexner’s one-volume work, Washington: The Indispensable Man. Flexner’s virtue as a writer is his selection of Washington’s choicest quotations. But I must admit Chernow’s virtue is more comprehensive.
I apologize for the length of my post and for excluding many other important aspects of Washington’s life. What are your favorite stories about Washington? Am I right to declare him our best president? (There must be some Lincoln fans out there.)
- Comment (19)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (4)
Comments :
Dec '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
I've only read the last (because I was at the right age when the miniseries based on the Flexner biography came out) but I think the greatest complement ever given to Washington came from the most unexpected of sources:
Richard Brookhiser writes in NRO: "When Napoleon was on St. Helena, one of the remarks he made in his table talk was `They wanted me to be another Washington.' Then he went on to explain, in Napoleonic fashion, how this was not possible in his circumstances. Ambition always finds reasons."
Yes, indeed. Ambition always finds reasons.
Jul '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Have you read Founding Father by Richard Brookhiser? I also recommend The Winter Soldiers, a detailed examination of the pivotal New Jersey campaign in the Revolutionary War.
Washington really was the right man in several right places at several right times.
Aug '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Great post, thanks.
Living in a county named after James Buchanan , we are embarrassed by the number of choices. But on all my visits to Mt Vernon , I think you can feel his presence still .
First at the helm.
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
AmishDude, your comment reminds me of another foreign leader's rumination on Washington:
Wylee Coyote, I unfortunately haven't read Brookhiser's book. Thanks for the recommendation!
And flownover, I agree.
Edited on May 15, 2011 at 1:22pmDec '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
I wish I had. Everytime I'm reading, I feel guilty because I should be writing. Everytime I'm writing, I feel guilty because I should be thinking.
At least the internet allows me to live out my ADD.
Jun '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
I'm a huge Washington fan. I've read (years ago) the Flexner book (which may be the best short one-volume bio) and Ellis's book, which looks more closely at his presidency. I received the Chernow book for Christmas, but haven't read it yet. Another book I recommend is Edward Lengel's General George Washington, which examines his military biography.
I place Washington first in the pantheon of American presidents, with Lincoln a close second (I do this knowing I may get Kenneth going--he's not a Lincoln fan). I posted a couple of weeks ago, providing a list of why GW was best, but the one I always come back to was the fact that he willingly walked away from power, not once, but twice (a symbolic act that established the precedent of peaceful transitions of power--a great blessing to America).
There are wonderful books out there on Washington that are far more nuanced than the Parson Weems' caricature. You'll find GW to be far more complex than the simplistic view of the man that our children receive in school.
Jun '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
AmishDude
I wish I had. Everytime I'm reading, I feel guilty because I should be writing. Everytime I'm writing, I feel guilty because I should be thinking.
At least the internet allows me to live out my ADD. · May 15 at 1:26pm
Brookhiser's book is terrific. David Hackett Fischer's Washington's Crossing is more of a general history, but his portrait of GW is superb.
Edited on May 15, 2011 at 1:44pmJul '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
I second the endorsement of Brookhiser's Founding Father. He does in a very short space what many people take far longer to do, and without such success: provide a compelling portrait of the inner Washington.
Let me also recommend a few older books, somewhat more academic. The Great-Grandpappy of all Washington biographies is Douglas Southall Freeman's multi-volume biography of Washington. Freeman often seems to be a descendant of Dr. Dryasadust, and it's hard to find inexpensive volumes of his bio. But for those with Washington mania, it's a necessary acquisition; there's an abridged one-volume, I believe.
One of my favorite books on Washington is Paul Longmore's The Invention of George Washington. This might sound to many of you like a revisionist book. It is. It revises (no ,it blows apart!) the idea that Washington was uneudcated, dim, and didn't read much, an idea early propagated by (alas) Mr. Jefferson and (true but odd) by Washington himself.
Mar '11
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Thanks Brian,
Visiting Mt. Vernon left a great impression on me - I wonder what the great man would think about how his country has become, and Mr. Obama? (the two are closely related, of course)
I can imagine him rolling in his grave (or tomb, actually).
Jul '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
David, I think Washington would say about the United States today what he wrote in 1783:
"The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind, after social happiness, have been carried to a great extent, the Treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labours of Philosophers, Sages and Legislatures, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the Establishment of our forms of Government; the free cultivation of Letters, the unbounded extension of Commerce, the progressive refinement of Manners, the growing liberality of sentiment, and above all, the pure and benign light of Revelation, have had a meliorating influence on mankind and increased the blessings of Society. At this auspicious period, the United States came into existence as a Nation, and if their Citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be intirely their own."
The faults of the Americans are not to be found in their Presidents, but in themselves.
Feb '11
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
I recently downloaded The Life of George Washington to my Kindle. I haven't had a chance to start it yet, but the fact that it was written by Chief Justice John Marshall who knew him personally , was the deciding factor for me. Has anyone read this before?
May '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
First, thank you Mr. Bolduc for your enjoyable post. I'm an 8th grade US History teacher who assigns a "Precedent President" project each year to highlight many of the firsts you cited above. I tweeted your post to my class and the kids prepping for our DC/NYC trip in June.
Second, tabula rasa: Each year I am data mining and presenting more primary & secondary sources for students to get a feel for GW that they can experience firsthand. Of course, I provide parameters for 14 year-olds to stay on task. But their essay question responses are getting better bit by bit each year.
I've noted many comments here to help my summer prep for next year. Best thing about GW is that studying him year after year I find no need for Parson Weems. The body of sources, primary and secondary, add to the portrait of a man who was very human and still succeeded spectacularly in daunting situations from the battlefield to the politics of a nascent republican experiment.
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Brady, thank you! Your class sounds like a lot of fun.
And Finster, unfortunately I haven't read Marshall's work.
Jan '11
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Today we have the benefit of watching many colonies become independent with awful results. George Washington’s steadfastness and clear concern for the vision offered in our revolution, codified in the constitution under which he was president, set a standard for post-revolutionary leadership rarely since seen. No George Washington, no republic, end of story.
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Ron Chernow: "He took the oath of office with his hand on the Bible. Basically, we still hew closely to the pattern of that day."
Do we ever.
From the inaugural address of George H. W. Bush: "I have just repeated, word for word, the oath taken by George Washington, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his."
Mar '11
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Robert Barraud Taylor: David, I think Washington would say about the United States today what he wrote in 1783:
"The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, ...
The faults of the Americans are not to be found in their Presidents, but in themselves.
Thanks Robert - but that is what worries me - we have maybe re-entered an age of Ignorance (due to the education system) and superstition (e.g. climate change).
There are dim hopes that things may yet change for the better - e.g. climate change, other than the natural type, is pretty well debunked. Long way to go with the education system and popular culture, though.
Jul '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Lincoln was the worst President of the United States, followed closely by Woodrow Wilson who mimicked him in many ways.
Apr '11
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Peter Robinson: Ron Chernow: "He took the oath of office with his hand on the Bible. Basically, we still hew closely to the pattern of that day."
Do we ever.
From the inaugural address of George H. W. Bush: "I have just repeated, word for word, the oath taken by George Washington, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his." · May 15 at 10:35pm
I got goosebumps reading this.
Nov '10
Re: George Washington, Father of His Country
Relatedly, he was also the one who insisted on being addressed simply as "Mr. President" rather than something like "Your Highness," or "Your Excellency," which the likes of John Adams favored.