Being that this day marks the day when we celebrate the lives of all our past Presidents, I thought it fun to publish a couple of essays on the lives of the Presidents whose faces are chiseled on Mount Rushmore.
POTUS #1
George Washington, our nation’s first President, had no formal education and yet rose in the ranks to become a leader of our nation. Also, he did not chop down the Cherry Tree as the myth told to school children says he did. It’s funny how stories are made and told through generations that actually have no basis or facts behind them.
Like me, George was an avid letter writer. The impassioned letters he penned led to opening the doors and minds of his fellow statesmen. He even wrote letters to his best friend’s wife professing his admiration of her. This, of course, was BM (before Martha) and also, as ardent as the letters were, his esteem for the gal was never acted upon.
George was born in 1732 in Pope’s Creek, Virginia not Mount Vernon. I am very familiar with Pope’s Creek, although my childhood memories of that place involve eating crabs, running down the wharfs, and adults playing music and dancing in the hall from the Maryland side of the river.
President Washington was an excellent dancer. This quality served him well during his two terms as President when his social engagements were many. But one of the most interesting little-known facts about the Father of Our Nation that I found was his embracement of the fundamental that religion practice was a basic right of all natural citizens.
In 1790, George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregations of Philadelphia and Rhode Island standing in strong favor of religious freedom. He said “…May the children of the stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants…”
George Washington was a gentleman with a deep, and seemingly, flawless character. And, he was one cool cat to boot! I would have liked to share a dance with him.
