George Washington
Born: February 22, 1732
Died: December 14, 1799
Term in Office: 1789-1797
When I was in elementary school we used to get both Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays off. Sometime in the early 70s they were combined on the Monday closest to Washington's birthday (which had been officially observed since 1880) and called 'Presidents Day. I liked it better the other way.
George Washington... what can you say about this guy? To me he has always seemed monolithic, unrelatable, distant, cold... yeah, not a warm and fuzzy dude. I mean, Father of the Country? What a label to hang on someone.
Aside from his leadership of the Continental Army, which (okay, okay) won us our independence from England and its royal family (Meghan and Harry would do the same thing in the 21st century), his PR people haven't really sold his regular human side. Yeah, some biographer made up the cherry-tree/I-cannot-tell-a-lie story years after George's death, but what else makes you want to heft a beer with him?
Aside from the Commander in Chief stuff, here are a few bits (and remember our two-bit coin has George's profile on it) on this guy...
- He 'owned' almost 600 slaves by the end of his life, a few of whom surrendered their teeth for his dental plates (no, his teeth were not wooden, but ivory, gold and human). I don't think his statues will be pulled down anytime soon ... father of the country, and all, you know. A note here, though: he made provisions for the freeing of his slaves but only after his wife Martha's death (when they would no longer benefit her?).
- An early mistake (in 1754, while he was a British officer and pretty much ambushed a French diplomatic party) in his military career sparked an international disagreement that helped lead to the Seven Years War between Great Britain and France.
- Though he's the father of our country, he had no children of his own. The four children he helped Martha raise were from her previous marriage.
Peace to all, and go easy when you powder your hair.
Thanks to website www.mtvernon.org as a reference for some of the above info
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