Posted on 02/21/2008 8:31:57 PM PST by khnyny
February 22 is the birthday of George Washington, the man who, more than any other, made possible our republican form of government. The third Monday in February has come to be known - wrongly - as President's Day. America's political leaders should take this occasion to remember Washington's deeds, recollect his advice, and once again call the holiday celebrating him by its legal name: Washington's Birthday.
James Flexner, George Washington's greatest biographer, called him the "indispensable man" of the American Founding. Without Washington, America would never have won our War of Independence. He played the central role in the Constitutional Convention and, as our first President, set the precedents that define what it means to be a constitutional executive: strong and energetic, aware of the limits of authority but guarding the prerogatives of office. Washington not only rejected offers to make him king, but was one of the first leaders in world history to relinquish power voluntarily. His peaceful transfer of the presidency to John Adams in 1797 inaugurated one of America's greatest democratic traditions.
From 1775 onward, when the Continental Congress appointed him military commander of continental forces, Washington personified the American Revolution. For eight years, General Washington led his small army through the rigors of war, from the defeats in New York and the daring crossing of the Delaware River to the hardships of Valley Forge and the ultimate triumph at Yorktown. Through force of character and brilliant political leadership, Washington transformed an underfunded militia into a capable force that, although never able to take the British army head-on, outwitted and defeated the mightiest military power in the world. And when the job was done, Washington resigned his commission and returned to his beloved Mount Vernon.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritage.org ...
Happy birthday George.
Some more excerpts:
Washington was instrumental in bringing about the Constitutional Convention, and his widely publicized participation gave the resulting document a credibility and legitimacy it would otherwise have lacked. Having been immediately and unanimously elected president of the convention, he worked actively throughout the proceedings, and an examination of his voting record shows his consistent support for a strong executive and defined national powers. The vast powers of the presidency, as one delegate to the Constitutional Convention wrote, would not have been made as great “had not many of the members cast their eyes towards General Washington as president; and shaped their ideas of the powers to be given to a president, by their opinions of his virtue.”
Washington wrote extensively and eloquently about the principles and purposes of the American Founding; he was a champion of religious freedom, of immigration, and of the rule of law. His most significant legacy is his Farewell Address of 1796, which ranks with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as one of the greatest documents of the Founding. The Farewell Address is best remembered for its counsel about international affairs: Washington recommended commercial relations with other nations but as few political entanglements as possible. Often overlooked is his sage advice about the character of our political system:.......
Agree 100%. They should have left recognition of Washington's Birthday as it was. If they wanted to recognize MLK day they could have done it without screwing up Washington's Birthday. I would like to see this travesty corrected but it is not very likely to happen in today's politically correct world.
MLK was a man of enormous charisma and courage and certainly a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement. There is much about him that I admire. An assesment of his life could creditably yield the adjective of great. Despite that, he does not deserve to be the ONLY American with his own holiday named after him. That honor should be reserved for only one person in American history, the greatest of all Americans, George Washington. More so than any other SINGLE figure in our history, he was the “indispensable man.” Without his courage, acumen, honor, and integrity, the US would simply not exist, and if it did, it probably would have been as a monarchy and certainly not as a constitutional republic.
MLK’s birthday was a sop to PC and a reflection of the DemocRAT Congress that voted it. The depth of MLK’s association with the most anti-freedom ideology (Communism)of our time will prove to very embarrassing when it is fully revealed. Additionally, MLK’s legacy to the modern day civil rights movement is a socialist bequeathment, that of looking to big government solutions for many of the behavioral problems in today’s black community. MLK continues to cast a long shadow over most of the modern day civil rights establishment and black politicians who largely reject free market, educationally based solutions to the unique problems plaguing the black community.
Washington and Lincoln.
If they would celebrate these like King’s, I would give the Dem,’s Franklin Roosevelt's also.
Actually I believe it was a bit more than 400 union deaths!
Apparently there is no other single individual in American history that was important enough to warrant a national holiday!
When my Grandfather emigrated to the US from Poland in the late 1920s, he didn't know his own birthday (a normal sort of thing for the time). He took February 22 as his birthday, in honor of the first President, and celebrated it every year. It just happened that it's my birthday as well.
Mark
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011010-4.html
Happy Birthday to my brother. Oh and let’s not forget Teddy Kennedy was born on this day too—ha, ha.
Better yet, can we just forget Teddy Kennedy was born?
What a touching, charming story. Happy birthday.
According to the Julian calendar, Washington was born on February 11, 1731, according to the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted in Britain and its colonies during Washington's lifetime, he was born on February 22, 1732.
Very strange fact about the calendar change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in the 18th Century.
It means you can celebrate Washington's Birthday twice each year!
I have read Flexner's The Indispensible Man, as well as the first of his five-volume biography of Washington.
We owe so much to him that there should be a one-year, required course in every high school in America, just on the life of this amazing person.
Mount Vernon is one of the most wonderful places... highly recommended to take a cab there next time you are in DC.
If everyone were to study Washington's life in detail, the country would consist of nothing but orthodox FReepers.
Thus we would be saved as a nation.
I agree!! Btw, aren’t 11 and 22 both cardinal numbers, lol?
Imho, Washington is one of the most amazing figures in history. I’ve been to Mount Vernon many times.:)
Happy Washington’s Birthday.
Happy Birthday to EXPOTUS Numero Uno (in more ways than one).
Both numbers are also palindromes such that successive difference of terms in the below integer series (A109872) is also a palindrome:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99, 101, 202, 303, 404, 505, 606, 707, 808, 909, 1111, 2222, 3333, 4444, 5555, 6666, 7777, 8888, 9999, 10001, 20002...
Regards,
caddie
Palindrome. Thanks, I learned something new today.
I also noticed a pattern, but didn’t know what it was called, very cool.
“Lincoln’s Celebration would remind the blacks that Lincoln and over 400 union soldier’s deaths gave them their freedom”
Actually I believe it was a bit more than 400 union deaths!
Sorry, I mean over 400,000 union deaths.
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