Founding Father
Presidents’ Day.
As soon as you hear it mentioned, an image of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln flashes before your eyes.
This makes perfect sense. We officially celebrated this federal holiday as Washington’s Birthday from 1879 until the early 1970s (we have the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to thank for that snazzy change). It might as well be President’s Day, for all it’s worth.
GET REACQUAINTED WITH MR. WASHINGTON
It’s true our Founding Father is the single most important President to date. I think it’s essential to remember his role and influence. The biographer Richard Brookhiser definitely takes this thought to heart in Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington. It’s an easy-to-read yet complex moral biography of Washington that would be a great choice to add to that ever-growing stack of books on your bedside table.
Brookhiser separates the biography into three parts: career, character and Washington’s impact as a Founding Father. The author spends a lot of time highlighting Washington’s character, showing us how Washington’s strong sense of virtue moderated harsh aspects of his personality. For instance, Brookhiser points to Washington’s natural temper. (Yes, your Founding Father wasn’t perfect.) He was a sensitive man, “passionate for distinction and for having his way, and when he was frustrated his affability could vanish.” (116)
So, what distinguishes our first President from so many that come after? Washington understood that words spoken in haste lack accuracy and he also knew that words have a lasting impact. As a result, Washington made a disciplined effort to speak less often. Brookhiser notes this singular revelation positively affected the relationships Washington made while in office.
While we can continue listing all the dry facts and figures about our first President, reading Brookhiser’s approach to biography is unusually fascinating because it allows us to contemplate our own understanding of both past and present through Washington’s personal decisions. How’s that for lasting influence?
MORE TO EXPLORE AFTER THE FIRST PRESIDENT
Brookhiser gives us many more fascinating details and events to contemplate about our Founding Father, but the most interesting thing you will discover in this unique biography is entirely unexpected. George Washington wanted nothing more than to be known as a humble man. It’s evident in his First Farewell Address and in his final request: he focused on others’ happiness before his own and refused any funeral oration at the end of his life. You can delve deeper into this and other books to better understand this wonderful irony.
So, I see this Presidents’ Day as an opportunity. Take some unofficial advice from your Founding Father and rediscover the importance of those unassuming Presidents who have been pushed to the background. I’d guess that our first President would have wanted it this way. Plus, you might learn something fascinating about a President’s character and moral imagination; it can be some influential stuff.
So you don’t have any excuses, here are a few titles to get you well on your way:
The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics by William J. Cooper
Many know John Quincy Adams as a failed President, but perhaps the way he shaped his character was not a failure.
A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland by Troy Senik
This new biography is set to publish in September 2022 and all of us should be thrilled to delve into it when it arrives. Did you know Grover Cleveland was both our 22nd and our 24th President?
Calvin Coolidge by David Greenberg
His “Silent Cal” nickname does not do justice to the interesting mark he leaves on the modern U.S. Presidency.
