OPINION:
In the deep of a cold night almost 250 years ago, a handful of soldiers waited for their turn to cross a river and head toward their enemy in hopes of surprising them on Christmas. Most had less than a week left in their enlistments and were preparing to head home.
It would have been easy for those soldiers to have slipped off into the night and not have boarded the boats for this final, probably pointless battle. However, almost all of them stayed to cross the Delaware, march to Trenton, and surprise and defeat the Hessians there on Dec. 26, 1776. That victory, more than any other, changed the fortunes of the Revolution.
This weekend, we celebrate the birthday of the author of that victory, Gen. George Washington, born in Virginia on Feb. 22, 1732.
He never went to college, dropping out at 15 to tend to the family farm, survey western Virginia and dabble in real estate. He wrote no books, wasn’t a particularly gifted orator, and wasn’t the richest man of his time or place.
However, he was a natural leader and fearless military officer. When he was just 22, the British army entrusted him with commands during the French and Indian War. He defeated that same British army, considered the best in the world, 25 years later in the Revolutionary War.
He guided the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention and enhanced its deliberations with his calming presence. Of course, those deliberations were made easier by the delegates’ certain knowledge that Washington would be the first president of the new republic.
He voluntarily stepped down as president after two terms, setting a precedent that no one even thought to challenge until the republic, unfortunately, ran across the authoritarian and grasping Roosevelts.
For more than 250 years, he has set the standard for presidents, generals, leaders and all Americans. To date, no one has entirely matched it.
Even in death, he helped the nation he had so much influence in creating. In the wake of a civil war that would have destroyed any other country or people, the North and South managed to find common ground in the memory of Washington. Construction of the monument that bears his name was restarted after the war and completed in 1884.
His wisdom still guides us. In his “Farewell Address,” he touched on the core and essential part of the American experience and American governance: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. … Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue?”
In 1965, historian James Flexner called Washington the “indispensable man.” The British called him “the Fox” because of his consistent ability to elude their superior forces. His fellow citizens call him the “father of our country” because that is what he was. He made life better for everyone lucky enough to be an American, and because America has been a force for good in the world, he, in turn, made life better for just about everyone on the planet.
That is quite an achievement for one lifetime.
So, if you can spare a moment, make sure to think about the first and greatest president with whom the United States and her people were blessed, and be grateful.
• Michael McKenna is a contributing editor at The Washington Times and a co-host of “The Unregulated” podcast.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.