Happy Birthday!

Yes, it's "Happy Birthday" time again. Today, it's George Washington's birthday, maybe. First, let me vent about the silly Presidents Day that took the place of Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays. Established in 1971 by Richard Nixon it's a "holiday set aside to honor all Presidents," he said adding, "even myself," it is ridiculous. Why in the world would we want to honor the likes of the two Johnsons, Harrison ("Tippecanoe" who was President for a month), "and Tyler, too," Buchanan, Harding, and others, including our last five Presidents? OK, OK, I guess people have their favorites and I know some folks disagree with me, but back to George Washington. Let me start by saying February 22nd isn't/wasn't really Washington's birthday/date. He was born on February 11th, 1731. But the British still worked under the old Julian Calendar (Julius Caesar, 45 BC) and didn't kick over to the updated Gregorian Calendar (Pope Gregory XIII, 1582). Remember the Protestant Reformation, Henry VIII and his dispute with the Catholic Church and pope? That explains it. When Britain adopted the Gregorian Calendar, to catch up, it added one year and 11 days. That is February 11th, 1731 became February 22nd, 1732. (The year is easy to remember. It is the square root of 3--1.732!) Of course, now officially, thanks to Presidents Day, I guess Washington's birthday is a moving date, the third Monday of each year. Grrr..... Now, for fun, Washington didn't chop down a cherry tree and tell his father, when questioned, "I cannot tell a lie" and admit his guilt. That was made up by Washington's first biographer, Parson Weems, to illustrate George's honesty. And Washington didn't have wooden teeth. Oh, he had false teeth, several dentures' worth. Some of those teeth were his own extracted ones, sheep teeth, and even ivory choppers. Gee, I feel a bit like I just told a bunch of kids there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny! That Washington was one of three or four key factors in the United States winning its independence did not make him a great President. (Without Washington, the colonies lose the Revolutionary War, pure and simple. Just like without the assistance of nations such as France, Spain, and the Netherlands, the colonists would have lost.) The qualities he possessed surely led to a great President, but the fact that he was the winning general did not necessarily--he wasn't President yet. Also, that Washington led the Constitutional Convention, was the presiding officer, was also a very important thing. That someone of the stature and prestige in the eyes of most early Americans supported the Constitution carried a lot of weight. Remember, a lot of leaders, such as Patrick Henry, John Dickinson, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock (at least early on) held strong doubts about if not opposition to this new document called the Constitution. Washington's backing was significant. Again, he wasn't yet President. But when the Constitution was written, namely Article II dealing with the Executive, it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that Washington would be the first President. (I know, I know. "Washington wasn't the first President!" Yes, he was, under the Constitution. But if we include the old the Second Continental Congress--the defacto government of the now declared independent United States--and the Articles of Confederation, there were up to a dozen previous presidents--note I didn't capitalize the "p." Look up names like Peyton Randolph and John Hanson. And note, like Washington, Randolph and Hanson came from Virginia. That was no accident. Virginia was the most populous and wealthiest state.) Like Winston Churchill in the darkest days of the Second World War holding Britain together, Washington did similarly with the young US. There was no guarantee the experiment with self-rule would succeed. In fact, many, especially in Europe, believed that it would fail and these brash colonists would come crawling back to Britain, like a puppy dog with its tail between its legs. Washington's personality, characteristics like courage, honesty, and foresight, along with the prestige he held among Americans kept the US from what many thought would be quick collapse. The specifics are there to discover. In what I think is the best single-volume biography of Washington, His Excellency, Joseph Ellis wrote this. "Benjamin Franklin was wiser than Washington; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; Thomas Jefferson was more intellectually sophisticated; James Madison was more politically astute. Yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior, the Foundingest Father of them all." That pretty much sums it up. Happy Birthday, George Washington!