Posted on 05/06/2012 7:11:14 AM PDT by Lazamataz
The result of the meetings at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.
The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the convention. He was a towering figure, already considered the 'Father of His Country', and the most respected person there. Even men of high stature were nervous to approach him.
But one story goes at this: Alexander Hamilton dared his fellow delegate Gouverneur Morris to clap General Washington on the shoulder and offer him a hearty greeting. Taking the dare, Morris placed his hand on Washington’s shoulder, and declared that he was happy to see his ‘dear General’ looking so well; Washington removed his hand and silently, but sternly glared at him. Morris shrunk and retreated back into the crowd to the amusement of Hamilton.
George Washington never really died. His soul hibernated, and came back on March 10, 1940. In order to avoid publicity, it changed his name.
His soul’s new name: Chuck Norris.
Great job at avoiding publicity, Chuckles!
/mark
My FAVORITE president! George, we need you. Shoot, we could even use somebody with 1/1000th of your character and guts.
Too much to ask for.
Tough times create tough people. Soft times create soft people. We have nothing but soft people now, but I suspect the next year will start creating tough people again.
***Washington removed his hand and silently, but sternly glared at him.***
I have read that GW preferred to give a gentlemanly bow to each other and not shake hands.
My favorite story about GW was about his conduct at Princeton. The British were attacking and the Patriot forced was wavering. Washinton rode and on his white horse and as a junior officer might, got them to form a line. He sat there not moving as bullets whized past him, and his men, encouraged by his example, sent volley and volley back at the Red Coats and repelled their attack. As he had proved earlier at Trenton, as tactical commander, he was superb. No movie director would dare stage this fight as it occured for fear of being laughed at.
True! But people involved in the tought times of the great depression, the 1930s, were largely graced with good character.
The overall character of today's population is largely ... questionable.
We shall see.
Thanks for the ping...I had never heard this story, and it is likely true, from what I could find out. Washington liked Morris a lot...but, his reaction is true to his personality at that time.
Can you imagine what a change would be wrought if every American who calls themselves "conservative" would simply adopt George Washington's attitude towards politics?
-- George Washington "If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God."
Mitt Romney would get about ten per cent of the vote in November.
I think you may be right....there won't be a choice in the matter.
My advice is to kill absolutely everyone you see.
That’s been my strategy since 2008. The kill count this morning is one fat guy on a lawnmower and two hoodlums blasting a car stereo.
I warn you, I'm competitive, and I like to have a higher body count than my wife.
I have two stories about George Washington that paint the man for me:
In Cambridge, during the winter of the siege of Boston there is an apocryphal story that he broke up a violent riot involving hundreds of men that was started a snowball fight between bored and undisciplined men from different units from around the colonies. Taunting escalated to a snowball fight, that escalated to a full blown riot. Washington rode in on his big white horse, jumped off throwing the reins to someone and grabbed the two biggest men fighting with each other in each of his fists and screamed at them.
Apparently, everyone was so shocked, the riot stopped immediately.
The night before the crossing of the Delaware, he had done all he could do, delegated all he could delegate, and was sitting at a desk, writing something on little scraps of paper, over and over again. One fell on the floor, and when one of his aides picked it up and read it, it said “Victory or Death”. He was writing the passphrase on pieces of paper to pass the time.
A few bits about GW.
1) He was intensely aware of the dignity of the office of the President. This was why he would not shake hands nor affably greet others once elected. At the same time, he was also intensely aware of the risks of an “Imperial Presidency”; so it took intense lobbying by Hamilton to convince him to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, needed to assert federal authority and keep the states from further division.
2) His greatest skill was as a spymaster, running a large network of agents, many of them women, with only one ever being captured (Nathan Hale). The list of these spies has never been released because even today it might prove deeply embarrassing to the British government and nobility.
3) As the commander of the Virginia Regiment in 1755 he led his unit in some vicious fighting against the Indians in the West. In 10 months units of his regiment fought 20 battles, suffering 1/3rd casualties while inflicting a lot more on their enemy.
LOL, well, I have no problem with the man being the head of the house.
From what I have read of Hamilton and Washington, this has the ring of truth to me.
Hamilton knew full well from being in close contact with Washington for so long, exactly how Washington was likely to react to a gesture such as being clapped on the shoulder. And Hamilton was apparently not beyond setting someone up like that.
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