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.
Didn’t know that Hamilton was a part-time SOB.
I didn’t know any of those.
"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."
(Note: This quote has been attributed to Gen. "Mad Dog" Mattis, but...I don't know for sure)
You may attribute this to me.
From what I have read, daring someone to do that and knowing full well the likely result was not beyond him.
I like Hamilton. He was flawed in many ways, and I think he is being unfairly painted as the father of todays federal government, but I submit he would be aghast at the Federal Government today, not the least for the complete and total lack of fiscal responsibility.
Hamilton does not get enough credit for managing the money matters of our country in its infancy to ensure it was not strangled in the cradle.
That reminds me of another story about Washington that I thought told a lot about him. (I may not have the facts exactly right, because it has been a while since I read it, but the flavor is the same)
During his second administration, stories began appearing about how Washington was out of touch, a doddering old man who couldn’t make a decision about anything, and was being led around by the nose particularly by a man like Hamilton. (Sound familiar? Ronald Reagan, perhaps?)
Washington had unimpeachable evidence that it was Thomas Jefferson who had been fostering this meme in the public eye. The story goes, met with Jefferson face to face, and in no uncertain terms, told him he knew exactly what had been going on, and why he unarguably had the truth in a matter Jefferson had outright deceived him about.
From that time on, they were estranged, and didn’t go beyond polite greetings in public.
Hahahahahah, I like it...:)
Shouldn't be too unreachable a target. Unless of course you just like beards.
Oh, Laz likes beards all right. You often see him out on a date with one at his arm.
Washington’s greatest attribute, sorely needed for our time, was his ability to give up power.
He had the good sense to prefer the quiet solitude of farming to politics, and upon his election as president, he blurted out to a close friend that he must, “bid adieu to happiness,” as “public life will be a more distressing one than any I have known yet.”
Giving up the power of the presidency after eight years was the best gift he could have given the United States, and his example lasted almost 150 years, until the power hungry administration of FDR.
This was the main reason he was so admired in Europe by such celebrities as Napoleon and, believe it or not, George III of England who said he could hardly believe it, but if true, Washington should be regarded as “the greatest man in the world.”
I left that door wide open, didn’t I? LOL
Washington helped to save the colonies for Britian then he went home to his private life. A few years later he strpped forward and helped to bring this nation into being and then went home to his private life. Later he turned down a crown but did accept the burden of leadership to put this nation on a firm footing then he went home to his private life.
Very few people who gain such power actively seek to put it down as Washington did. Therein is his greatness and the evenhandness of his administration.
I’m currently reading a new biography about GW, which continues to be enlightening.
Sounds interesting. What are you reading?
Washington’s true servant heart is one of the qualities I love most about him. Even near the end of his life, when they came back and begged him, he gave more of himself to his country-—though he’d already given more than enough. All he wanted was to stay home on his farm, but his sense of duty won out.
I have only two things to say.
1. Shh.
2. Are we still on tonight?
Oh, so it’s gonna be THAT kind of marriage! Tuesdays and Thursdays reserved for “the boys”.....
Not quite. Saturdays and Mondays are 'the boys', Sundays are 'the koalas', Tuesdays are 'the vaccuum cleaners', Fridays are 'the cats and dogs', Thursdays are 'the smoking women who wear sharp dangerous high heels and fetish clothing who stomp small animals to death', and Wednesdays are the 'internet porn covering all the above' days.
So, do you smoke?
Another story, this one about Ben Franklin. When he was young, he was physically very powerful. When he was setting type he would pick up full trays of lead type, one in each army and carry then to where they would be put in the press. Each one weighed more than 50 lbs and he could do this all day.
Still another, this one about John Q. Adams: Very aloof fellow, probably the smartest man ever to be president. As President he was called upon to plant a ceremonial tree in the capital. They handed him a dinky little shovel and he tried to scoop up some dirt. He could barely break the sod. He tried a couple of times with no better result. Scowling, he then turned to a workman who who hold a real shovel, the one he was going to use to plant the tree. and asked to use it. He then took off his coat and unloosed his collar, handed it to an aid and began to attack the ground. The crowd was cheering him wildly as he dug. After awhile, he had dug a substantial hole. Satisfied, he handed the shovel back to someone and took his coat back from, his aid and put it back on. He then left, never once acknowledging the plaudits of the crowd. The person who reported this story informed us that back home he was used to such manual chores. Like his father he was a farmer and physically quite fit. The same guy who liked to swim naked in the Potomoc for exercise.
Washington was highly aware of his place and status in the Convention, and while he said little during its deliberations he knew what his presence meant. This clappy greeting was the eighteentth century equivalent to "stepping on Superman's cape!"
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