George Washington

As I start this journey on recapping the books, I wanted to provide some insight. This is not meant to be a book review. While I have enjoyed some books better than the others of the eight I have finished, I won't be providing a critique of the authors. This blog is more designed to provide my insights on what I learned. 

When I started this crazy idea about a year ago, I had no perceived goals except for reading a biography on all 44 Presidents. If you think of the number of citizens this country has had, its a pretty exclusive club. It's not meant to start a political debate of party versus party. What I am looking to get out of all the books has evolved while reading the eight books so far. After reading a few books, I quickly realized there are common themes.

• Challenges All Presidents face unique, difficult decisions that have impact on people's lives.
• Mistakes and Second guessing. It's very easy to sit back many years later and judge these men that have led this country.
• Leadership style. The job as commander in chief has more demand of being a leader potentially more than any job ever invented.
• Common themes. Times change, years go by but there are some familiar themes that surface close to 200 years apart.
• Family and friends. There is a cast of characters surrounding all the Presidents.
• Backgrounds. The Presidents are from various parts of the country and different job prior to becoming Commander in Chief.
• Military background. Quite a few presidents have served our country in the military. Only three, Washington, Grant and Eisenhower, held the highest command in the military and became president.

As we go along in the process I will be providing insights and my thoughts on these qualities.

                                                                                                            

George Washington

Mount Vernon

As most know, this is Washington's residence. He inherited the property at the age of 22 after his brother died and his sister in law moved away. The house that most know today as Mount Vernon was only one building on the property. Washington owned hundreds if not over a thousand acres during his lifetime.

• Washington did not attend college. His formal education ended at 15 as his parents could not afford to send George to school
• He had no children of his own. he married Martha and raised her children as his own

Starting in the 1760s he was actively involved in Virginia politics. He frequently participated in the House of Burgess in Williamsburg.

Washington excelled at surveying the lands. In 1770 he went west and explored of what would become Ohio. he understood the importance of moving westward. Washington understood the importance of living and working near water. These qualities would come in handy as he picked the site of our capital in 1790 which would become Washington D.C.

His leadership keeping the troops together during the American Revolution is unbelievable. Most know about his extradoniary efforts leading the troops at Valley Forge. There are many more instances of his leadership excelling. This was not the current military of today. Thirteen colonies with different militias. Each of the states had different agendas. Washington was able to keep the troops going and defeat the British. There is a reason after the thirteen colonies ratified the Constitution there was little debate on who the electoral college would choose to be the first President of the United States of America. John Adams may disagree with that statement. (Teaser for the blog post on John Adams presidency.)

Four of the first five Presidents were from Virginia. Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. Twenty-four of the first twenty-eight years of our country's existence were led by men from Virginia. Have you ever thought of the reason? I had not. The reason is the way the electoral college was set up. Slaves counted as 3/5 of a person for counting population in states. Even though the slaves had no voting rights, they were counted in the population totals. This fact swayed to the electoral college totals towards the South and in particular the state of Virginia.

                                                                                                            

Slavery

This is one topic you can not avoid with any of the founding fathers and early presidents. George Washington owned slaves. There is no hiding that fact. Defenders of Washington will say this was critical to his survival as a businessman on his plantation. His critics will counter to him and all of the founding fathers, how can it be stated in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal but slavery was allowed. This was ongoing discussion from our country's founding until the Civil War. More on that in future blogs, as quite a few of our early presidents deserve credit from preventing a civil war.

Allies
This is a common theme that repeats often during US history. During the Revolutionary War, the colonies could not defeat the British by themselves. They needed it help and it came from France. Lafayette was a very successful leader and worked closely with General Washington to defeat the British. Money was also key to success. John Adams was sent to Europe and ask for a loan to finance the war. This is depicted well in the HBO series John Adams. Good relationships with our Allies will come into play during WWI, WWII and the cold war of the 1950s during the Eisenhower administration.

Soft spoken
During his inauguration in becoming the first US President, Washington could not be heard. The crowd could barely hear him speak.

At the end of each blog, I will use one word or phrase to describe each of the Presidents. The word I choose for Washington is pretty easy. Leader.