Today is George Washington’s birthday. Washington, the first
President of the United States (under the U.S. Constitution), is
considered by many people to be one of the greatest Presidents the U.S.
has had.
This is an excerpt from his official White House brief biography:
"Born
in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners,
and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.
"He
pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion.
At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax.
Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first
skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year,
as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four
bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.
"From
1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his
lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of
Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted
himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters,
Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by
British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute,
he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.
"When
the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775,
Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in
Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked
upon a war that was to last six grueling years.
"He realized
early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to
Congress, 'we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put
anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we
ought never to be drawn.' Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then
strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies - he
forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
"Washington
longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized
that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning
well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the
Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new
Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected
Washington President.
"He did not infringe upon the policy
making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the
determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential
concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France
and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations
of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French,
or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was
pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United
States could grow stronger.
"To his disappointment, two parties
were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics,
feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell
Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and
geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against
long-term alliances.
"Washington enjoyed less than three years
of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection
December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him."
A selection of quotes from George Washington:
"The
ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be
scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be counteracted by the
utmost efforts of human power or wisdom, resignation, and as far as the
strength of our reason and religion can carry us, a cheerful
acquiescence to the Divine Will, is what we are to aim." (in a letter to
Colonel Bassett, 25 April 1773)
"By the all-powerful
dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human
probability and expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and
two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, altho' death was
levelling my companions on every side." (in a letter to John A.
Washington, 18 July 1755)
"“Nothing but harmony, honesty,
industry, and frugality are necessary to make us a great and happy
people." (to Marquis de Lafayette, Mount Vernon, 29 January 1789)
"I
am sure the mass of citizens in these United States mean well, and I
firmly believe they will always act well whenever they can obtain a
right understanding of matters; but in some parts of the Union, where
the sentiments of their delegates and leaders are adverse to the
government, and great pains are taken to inculcate a belief that their
rights are assailed and their liberties endangered, it is not easy to
accomplish this; especially, as is the case invariably, when the
inventors and abettors of pernicious measures use infinite more industry
in disseminating the poison than the well disposed part of the
community to furnish the antidote." (in a letter to John Jay, 8 May
1796)
Smithsonian Institution: George Washington ' A National Treasure: Chronology
Other information/media posts:
The Catholic Thing: Happy Birthday, George Washington (21 FEB 20)
Foundations Magazine: George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation
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