OPINION:
In the deep of a cold night almost 250 years ago, the remnants of an army waited for their turn to cross a river and head toward their enemy in hopes of surprising them on Christmas. Most troops had less than a week left in their enlistments and were already preparing to head home.
The fading prospects for American independence would go with them.
It would have been easy for those soldiers to have slipped off into the night, to not have gotten on the boats for this one final, probably pointless battle. However, just about all of them stayed to cross the Delaware, march to Trenton, and surprise and defeat the Hessians there on Dec. 26, 1776. More than any other, that victory changed the fortunes of the Revolution.
Today, as we have for almost 200 years, we will celebrate Gen. George Washington, the author of that victory, and much of the reason why the Continental Army survived the dark and terrible days in late 1776.
Contrary to popular belief and the efforts of salesmen throughout the land, no Congress nor president has ever changed this celebration to the abomination that is “Presidents Day.” That’s good because the assortment of mostly mediocre American presidents deserves no celebration.
Washington, born in Virginia on Feb. 22, 1732, is quite another matter.
He dropped out of school at the age of 15 to tend to the family farm, do a bit of surveying and dabble in real estate. He wrote no books. He wasn’t a particularly gifted or prolix orator. He wasn’t the richest man of his time or place.
He was, however, a natural leader and fearless military officer. He was entrusted with commands by the British army during the French and Indian War when he was just 22 years old. He defeated that same British army — considered the best in the world — 25 years later in the Revolutionary War.
He guided the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention and enhanced its deliberations by his calming presence. Those deliberations were, of course, made easier by the certain knowledge among the delegates that Washington would be the first president of the new republic.
He voluntarily stepped down as president after two terms, setting a precedent that no one even thought to challenge until the republic, unfortunately, ran across the authoritarian and grasping Roosevelts.
For 250 years, he has set the standard for presidents, generals, leaders and all Americans. To date, no one has entirely matched it.
Even in death, he helped the nation he did so much to create. In the wake of a civil war that would have destroyed any other country or people, North and South managed to rally around the memory of Washington, a unifying force.
Construction of the monument which bears his name was restarted after the war (in 1873) and completed in 1884. In 1889, the state of Washington, which had no physical connection whatsoever to the general Washington, was admitted into the Union.
It is no accident that the United States Senate commemorated the 130th Anniversary of Washington’s birth (in 1862) by reading aloud his Farewell Address. The reading of the Farewell Address in the Senate became a tradition observed to this day.
The wisdom of his advice endures. In his Farewell Address, he touches on the core and essential part of the American experience and American governance: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. … Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue?”
In 1965, the historian and writer James Flexner called him the “indispensable man.” The British military called him “the Fox” because of his consistent ability to elude their superior forces during the Revolutionary War.
Citizens of the nation simply call him the “father of our country” because that is what he was. He made life better for every American who has ever lived, and because America has been a force for good in the world, he, in turn, made life better for just about everyone on the planet.
That is quite an achievement for one lifetime.
So, if you get a moment today, the day his native Commonwealth of Virginia simply celebrates as George Washington Day, make sure to think about the first and greatest president with whom the United States was blessed and be grateful.
• Michael McKenna, a columnist for The Washington Times, is the president of MWR Strategies. He was most recently a deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the White House. He can be reached at mike@mwrstrat.com.
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