Victim? Cause for pity?
By no means.
The subject is George Washington and the facts are all true. What is significant for our story, however, is how George Washington handled himself -- in good times and bad. Far from bemoaning his fate, George Washington faced adversity bravely, worked diligently and attempted to educate himself broadly. By force of personal discipline and exemplary character, he was a paragon of just and effective leadership.
As a boy, he deliberately copied 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation" and thereafter conducted himself in compliance with these dictates. "Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Careful to keep your promise," wrote Washington. "Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad Company."
Dominated by an irritable mother who emphasized her grievances rather than her blessings (even petitioning Congress for an unnecessary stipend while her son was President), George Washington was not deterred.
At age 17, he started his own business as a surveyor -- an occupation which he mastered and which helped establish his reputation for thoroughness and probity.
In 1755, he served as an aide to General Edward Braddock in the French and Indian War. Although two horses were shot out from under him and four bullets ripped through his coat, Washington remounted each time and assisted the forces in a hopeless struggle in which Braddock was killed and the Americans were routed.
In 1775, he accepted the post of Commander in Chief of the colonial forces. Despite a chronic lack of food, supplies and equipment and constant political bickering, he remained steadfast in the position and led the struggle for American independence for over six years -- transforming a ragtag band of untrained, unkempt and diverse soldiers into a disciplined and determined military force.
After leading the American colonies to victory, Washington rejected demands that he become king and instead voluntarily resigned his commission, establishing the precedent of civilian rule.
The examples are not exhaustive -- yet they underline an indisputable fact. George Washington set high standards and lived up to them. He believed in personal discipline and integrity and considered it his duty to set a precedent of impeccable character as the United States' first elected leader.
It is no wonder that Washington has over time served as a role model for men and women who sought to match his example. As a boy, Abraham Lincoln's favorite book was the Parson Weems' biography of Washington. And during the turbulent events of the Civil War and Reconstruction, George Washington was looked to as a role model for both political and domestic life.
Nor was Washington's leadership limited to the Continent. Simon Bolivar, the famed liberator of Latin America, was also influenced and motivated by George Washington, wearing a medal of Washington when he appeared in public.
Despite this fine example, recent studies reveal that the American people are increasingly ignorant of the basis of America's founding and the significance of Washington's character and leadership. More often than not, Washington's place in history is relegated to a single picture or to a footnote outlining his false teeth or slaveholding past!
But his character is surely as important now as ever before. "While most other things have changed dramatically over the past two centuries," writes the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, "the qualities of a just and effective leader remain the same, and no one has better reflected these qualities than George Washington."
As we approach the millennium, it, therefore, seems appropriate to reexamine and appreciate
anew the example set by our first president. In the words of Daniel Webster:
"American has furnished to the world the character of Washington. And if our American institutions
had done nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind."
