What is George Washington? This question is perhaps more pertinent to exploring the story of the legendary American than 'Who was George Washington'? His presence transcends mortal barriers of time and place. We still remember and value him some two centuries after his death. He is revered in all parts of America - from his home state of Virginia to the west coast (including the state of Washington), which he never came within a thousand miles of.

The tale of America's ascendency as a democracy is often described in the context of a successful experiment. In fact, it can be viewed in that way. Like a young student's vinegar and baking soda volcano, there were constantly elements whose competition with one another threatened to boil over at any time. However, Washington's presence may have helped America be a bit scientifically dishonest. Somehow, with Washington in the mix, the sides were not able to react violently and were able to be productive in a way that many revolutions are not able to (this was, after all, a man who once claimed 'Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.'). This great volcano has, with a few notable exceptions, laid dormant since Washington's time. As his reward, as the top of the volcano was forever sealed up, Washington was set atop, on the very apex of the American Mount Olympus.

: Noun

Many of the details so often recounted by historians about Washington are really quite inconsequential. Few of the hundreds of books about him don't include his date of birth, 22 February, 1732 and the tale of his cutting down the cherry tree. In fact, anyone growing up in America didn't have to read one of the many books about him to warmly remember him - most public school students and alumni in the US can recall being told of his wooden teeth and cherry tree at an early age. With the seeds planted in the minds of so many, it's no surprise that he's often considered, along with Abraham Lincoln, to be one of the greatest US Presidents. However, historians, who wouldn't necessarily put the same weight on a (now discredited) cherry tree story, count him as one of the greatest Presidents. Much like Lincoln, warmly remembered for all the anecdotes that have found their way into the history books¹, but not for the broader stories that truly define him as a man.

However, those anecdotes do serve a purpose to define his character. The well known story of freeing his slaves in his will actually hides the more important part of that story. The slaves, having grown old, were as much a burden to Washington's plantation as an asset. He could have sold them, but that would have resulted in breaking up their families - which, to his eternal credit, he refused to allow. The stories of his bravery in combat are certainly important enough in that they show that he was personally courageous. His bravery went a few levels deeper though. He made bold decisions as a General and stood to lose everything he had if his efforts in the Revolutionary war proved unsuccessful. Many historians choose to discount the risk that the diplomats and officers who tied their fortunes to the war - after all, do they risk any more than the soldiers who tie their lives to the effort? Washington, however, was often reported as standing on the front lines with his men, avoiding bullets as if some fate was intervening.

Those Youthful Recollections

Charlie: What are you reading?

Bartlet: Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation by George Washington.

Charlie: The George Washington?

Bartlet: The rules were drawn from an English translation of a French book of maxims. Washington copied them down when he was 14 years old. [reads] 'When you sit down, keep your feet firm and even, without putting one on the other or crossing them. Put not off your clothes in the presence of others, nor go out of your chamber half-dressed.' What a tightassed little priss he must've been.

Charlie: Yes, sir.

Bartlet: Do you think I could take George Washington?

Charlie: Take him at what, sir?

Bartlet: I don't know... a war?

Charlie: Could you have taken George Washington in a war?

Bartlet: Yeah.

Charlie: Well, you'd have the Air Force and he'd have the Minutemen, right?

Bartlet: The Minutemen were good.

Charlie: Still, I think you could probably take him.

Bartlet: Yeah.
-From 'The West Wing'

Like most great men, Washington never knew what he was destined for as a child, and neither did those around him. He would have probably been content to be a member of the wealthy Virginia planter class and spend his life as a farmer. However, that's not the path he set himself upon. He found a love of the outdoors. He liked to hunt, and held a job as a surveyor for some time. With his passion for the world established, George naturally wanted to see more of it.

He became interested in what lay beyond Virginia - to the west. When conflicts escalated in the west between Britain and the allied French and Native American forces, Washington led a group of soldiers to erect Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania, to challenge French control of the region. He had to retreat, in large part because of poor planning on his part. He also participated, and showed great bravery in, the battle of Monongahela. Not long after, he took charge of defending the Virginia frontier, but resigned after a while due to matters of rank and prestige.

George then made a fateful decision in marrying Martha Custis - a wealthy widow who gave him access to the upper crust of Virginia society. There aren't many surviving letters between George and Martha, probably because Martha burned them, so it's hard to see what kind of a relationship they had. Some historians tend to suspect that George was a sort of a male 'golddigger', interested in Martha purely for her money. The fact that they were never able to produce an offspring lends some credence to this theory. However, it's more probable that Washington was characteristically measured in his public affection for his wife. Washington was the sort of man who could sit through an airing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail² without even the tinge of a smile.

He settled down into the routine of a Virginia plantation owner - dealing with slaves, supervising an ongoing renovation of his estate at Mount Vernon and trying to make his business profitable (which he eventually was able to do). He was also elected as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758. He took on the father role of Martha's children from a previous marriage - Jackie and Patsy. Though he was not genetically linked to them, it is said that he never treated them any less than he would have treated his own children.

As Washington savored a domestic life, though, the political winds were shifting. As the now familiar sparks - the Boston Tea Party, the Stamp Acts, the Intolerable Acts, the Boston Massacre, etc - began to ignite American resolve, Washington took a central role in the movement by allowing himself to be elected as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress. He characteristically said little during his time as a delegate, but was a stalwart opponent of British imposition and supported a boycott against British goods. During the Second Continental Congress, when the delegates began to get serious about military preparations and action against the British, they looked to Washington. Recognized as an important link to Virginia - the largest colony at the time - as well one of the few men in America with military experience who demonstrated leadership and prudence, in 1775 Washington was selected as Commander-in-Chief for the emerging American army.

In Command

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.

When George Washington left his home (with his old military uniform) for the Second Continental Congress, he was 43 years old. When he came back, at the end of the war, he was 51 years old. As Commander-in-Chief, his attention was first focused on Boston, which the British had taken. His instincts were to be more aggressive than was practical, so he often had to be reined in by his subordinates (he would have some very talented and famous subordinates, including Israel Putnam, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox, James McHenry, Nathanael Greene and John Laurens). Eventually, with some brilliant action at Dorchester Heights, Boston fell and the Americans experienced their first victory.

It isn't worth recounting every aspect of the Revolution here. There were many important events, many mistakes and many bold, successful moves made by Washington. While Washington was by no means a perfect commander, or an especially brilliant tactician, he did devote himself to his cause and may very well have meant the difference between defeat for the Americans and victory. As it happened, the Americans did eventually win the war, culminating at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and ending with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Convention

Washington hoped to retire and see to his personal affairs - after all, he had sacrificed quite a lot during the war and his finances were in ruins when he got back. However, the government formed after the revolution... it wasn't very good, and it quickly became evident that the government would need to be reformed or it wouldn't finish out the decade. And so, Washington stepped up again. He lent his immeasurable prestige to the Constitutional Convention by presiding over it. He rarely did anything or ever spoke, but his presence was enough to make the end result - a new Constitution for the fledgling nation - more credible.

However, as he may have suspected, his help in producing this document, specifically Article II, which refers to the Executive Branch, delayed his retirement even more.

President

There was never much of a question in anyone's mind that George Washington would serve as America's first President. Furthermore, there never seemed to be much doubt in anyone's mind, except the man himself, that he would serve as President until his death.

Washington was elected as the first President of the United States unanimously (by the members of the Electoral College anyway... there was almost certainly one or two party poopers in the general public who meant to cast their vote against old George) and was inaugurated in 1789. He selected Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox as Secretary of War and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. John Adams was his Vice President. Washington found himself in the middle of several disputes between this all-star cast of the first American administration. Hamilton and Jefferson especially found it difficult to get along and their differences set the stage for the partisanship that would take root later in the Washington administration.

There were many accusations that Washington was closer to Hamilton and the Federalists than to Jefferson and his friends. If that's true, it's not because Washington was a Federalist or a partisan... he loathed party politics. He simply was more ideologically aligned with Hamilton and saw the wisdom of many of his decisions. When Jefferson wanted to defame Washington without challenging his illustrious record, he would mention that he thought that the President had become senile and was being manipulated by the nefarious Hamilton... which is complete bunk. Washington rarely allowed himself to be dragged into conflicts though, and left most of the policy work to his cabinet officers. The Washington administration made some great strides, but they weren't Washington's doing.

Washington must have gotten tired of it all, because he refused to stand for reelection in 1796, allowing the Presidency to pass to John Adams and establishing a precedent for a two term limit on administrations that was only broken by Franklin Roosevelt.

Farewell

When Washington decided to leave the Presidency, he worked with Alexander Hamilton (using some notes James Madison had helped him with) to draft an open letter to the American people known as his Farewell Address (though it wasn't really an address). In it, he famously warned the American people against permanent foreign treaties and partisan politics. It's impossible to look at the state of America and think that his words were heeded.

George Washington died at age 67 on 14 December, 1799.