George Washington's Brevity

By contrast with William Henry Harrison's long inaugural address, the shortest thus far is George Washington's second inaugural, delivered on March 4, 1793. This is the entire thing:

Fellow Citizens:

I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united America.

Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.

Dead Presidents: Leap Day

February 29 comes along only once in four years, which might account for the fact that no Presidents or Vice Presidents of the United States were ever born or died on that day, though President John Tyler came within a few feet of death on February 28, 1844, when a 12-inch gun on the warship USS Princeton accidently exploded, killing two members of his cabinet, among others.

There have been a few bits of presidential history associated with Leap Day, however. On February 29, 1796, for example, President Washington announced that the Jay Treaty was in effect -- officially, the Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty; and The United States of America. (John Jay was the chief negotiator on the American side.) Among other things, the treaty provided for the end of the lingering British occupation of forts in the Northwest Territory; the settlement of compensation to U.S. ship owners whose vessels by the British during the Revolution; and the establishment of a commission to delineate part of the boundary with British North American (that is, the Canadas).

On February 29, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt formally appointed a seven-man commission -- the Isthmian Canal Commission, which reported at first to Secretary of War William Howard Taft -- to get on with the task of building the Panama Canal, one of the signal achievements of his presidency. The move came immediately after the brand-new Panamanian government, which had been helped into existence by the U.S.S. Nashville in late 1903, ceded control of the Canal Zone to the United States on February 23.

On February 29, 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the second Neutrality Act, which renewed a previous act that banned trading in arms or war materials with all parties in a war, and clarified the status of Americans traveling on ships of belligerent powers -- at their own risk (everyone still recalled the Lusitania in those days). The '36 act also banned loans or credits to belligerents. Other neutrality acts were passed in the late '30s, for all the good they did in the early '40s in keeping the United States out of war.

George Washington Chicken McNugget Put on eBay

As of the evening of February 26, 2012, the Rare "President George Washington Chicken McNugget" has 52 bids on eBay, with the current high bid coming in at $4,050. A photo of the item shows a fairly ordinary fast-food chicken nugget that, if you put your imagination to it, might look a little like the profile of George Washington on the quarter. (This image at Omaha.com is a better look at it.)

News reports over the weekend said that the nugget has been put up for sale by one Rebekah Speight, an Iowa woman who says she discovered it three years ago and kept it in her refrigerator as a curiosity. More recently, she decided to sell it to raise money for her church's summer camp. Initially, eBay balked -- it's an expired food item, and auction rules don't allow that -- but later the company said it would make an exception since the sale was for charity (and it also seems unlikely that anyone would eat it, especially after paying thousands for it).

The auction is going along well, but still needs a slogan. Maybe "First in war, first in peace, and first in the deep-fry vats of his countrymen."

Dedication of the Washington Monument

On the occasion of the dedication of the Washington Monument on February 21, 1885, Senator John Sherman of Ohio (brother of the Union general) said:

"I need not say anything to impress upon you the dignity of the event you have met to celebrate. The monument speaks for itself -- simple in form, admirable in proportions, composed of enduring marble and granite, resting upon foundations broad and deep, it rises higher than any other work of human art. It is the most imposing, costly, and appropriate monument ever erected in honor of one man. It had its origin in the profound conviction of the people, irrespective of party, creed, or race, not only of this country, but of all civilized countries, that the name and fame of Washington should be perpetuated by the most imposing testimonial of a nation's gratitude to its hero, statesman, and father."

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Each age gets the Lincoln it deserves. So the early 21st century clearly deserves a vampire-killing, action-hero Abe. The trailer for the upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was released today.

Note that in one of the panning shots of the trailer, the Washington Monument is visible -- the completed monument that we know today. It might be too much to ask a fantasy like Vampire Hunter to get such niggling details right, but in Lincoln's day the monument wasn't finished. It looked like this.

Washington's Wine Cooler Sells for $782K

Christie's auction house recently auctioned a four-bottle, silver wine cooler presented to Alexander Hamilton by George Washington in 1797. The item fetched $782,500, whch was more than expected. The buyer, according to Christie's, was Gary Hendershott, a Little Rock-based expert and dealer in American relics; direct descendants of Secretary Hamilton were the sellers.

Washington originally commissioned the piece in 1789 as one of four to be used for after-dinner entertaining. It is Sheffield-plated silver, a layered combination of silver and copper, rather than solid silver. Washington had instructed Gouvernor Morris, whose task it was to outfit the president's house in Philadelphia, to "avoid extravagance" in procuring such items. Washington knew he was setting precedents for his new office, and didn't want monarchical overtones.

“I think it of very great importance to fix the Taste of our Country properly, and I think Your Example will go very far in that respect," Morris wrote to Washington. "It is therefore my Wish that every Thing about you should be substantially good and majestically plain; made to endure.”

And so it has. Washington bought the coolers from the federal government at the end of his presidency, for his own use at Mt. Vernon; sold another; and gave the remaining one to his close friend Hamilton. Washington wrote a letter to go with the gift, and in the mid-19th century, Hamilton's descendants had the contents of the letter engraved on the wine cooler.

“My dear Sir, Not for any intrinsic value the thing possesses, but as a token of my sincere regard and friendship for you, and as a remembrance of me, I pray you to accept a wine cooler for four bottles. It is one of four which I imported in the early part of my late administration of the Government, two of which were ever used. I pray you to present my best wishes, in which Mrs. Washington joins me to Mrs. Hamilton, and the family, and that you would be persuaded that with every sentiment of the highest regard, I remain your sincere friend, and affectionate humble servant: Geo. Washington.”

A photo of the piece and more about it is here.

Dead Presidents: February

February has so many important presidential birthdays that more than 40 years ago it landed Presidents Day under the terms of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Except that there's no mention of "Presidents Day" or "Presidents' Day" or "President's Day" in the law, though the idea had been floated in Congress (as "Presidents' Day").

The official name of the federal holiday remains "Washington's Birthday," though of course to complicate things further, some states do have an official Presidents' Day holiday -- or some variation of that, see below -- which happens to be the same day as the federal holiday, the third Monday of February.

The holiday is "President's Day" in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. It's "Lincoln/Washington/Presidents' Day" in Arizona; "George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day" (who?) in Arkansas; and "Presidents' Day" in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Vermont. Maine calls it "Washington's Birthday/President's Day," while it's "Presidents Day" in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and New Jersey. The holiday is "Lincoln's and Washington's Birthday" in Montana; "Recognition of the birthday of George Washington" in North Dakota; "Washington and Lincoln Day" in Utah, and "George Washington Day" in Virginia.

It should also be noted that the third Monday in February can never be February 22, the New Style date on which the adult George Washington celebrated his birthday. The third Monday can only be from February 15th to the 21st, which explains the anomaly in some years of having Washington's birthday celebrated on a Monday a week ahead of his birthday (the 15th) rather than a week later on his actual birthday.

One more thing: George Washington, son of Augustine and Mary Washington, was actually born on February 11, 1731, Old Style. After the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by the British Empire in 1752, Washington changed the date to be mathematically correct, and the year to conform to the new custom of starting the year on January 1.

Also born in February: Ronald Reagan (6th) and William Henry Harrison (9th), and of course Abraham Lincoln (12th), who is honored on his birthday with a holiday in a few states. Woodrow Wilson died on February 3 and John Quincy Adams died on the 23rd.

Among Vice Presidents of the United States, the dead Aaron Burr and Henry Wilson were born in February (the 6th and 16th, respectively). The living Dan Quayle celebrates his birthday on February 4. Vice President Charles Curtis is the only veep to die in February, on the 8th.

The Plan to Reanimate Washington

News of the weird, presidential variety: A website called io9 ("We Come From the Future") recently published an article called "The Capitol architect wanted to reanimate George Washington's dead body," along with a George-Washington-as-zombie illustration that says more about the current penchant for zombies than the 18th-century statesman. Naturally, zombie George Washington prints are for sale by Plemont Studios, the image's creator; and a movie treatment can't be long in coming, especially if Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter does well.

The io9 article cites Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution, by Holly Tucker (2011) as the source for the story. "If William Thornton [pictured], physician and designer of the US Capitol, had had his way, Washington's body would have been subjected a scientific experiment designed to bring the deceased former president back to life," writes Lauren Davis. "... he planned to perform a tracheotomy so he could insert a bellows into Washington's throat and pump his lungs full of air, and finally to give Washington an infusion of lamb's blood. Friends and family declined Thornton's mad scientist offer..."

Lamb's blood, apparently, was thought at the time to have regenerative properties -- or at Thornton wanted to investigate the possibility, good Enlightenment scientist that he was. He probably deserves the benefit of the doubt, since medical science was primitive at the time, and at least he wanted to investigate new avenues of research, however strange they might sound to us.

A couple of other outlets have picked up the story, including the Daily Mail, which in true British tabloid style called its article, "Zombie George Washington: How a mad scientist planned to reanimate the first president with lamb's blood after he died."

Letter to President Adams: "The Death of the Great and Good General Washington"

JOHN ADAMS.

MOUNT VERNON, December 15, 1799.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: It is with inexpressible grief that I have to announce to you the death of the great and good General Washington. He died last evening between 10 and 11 o'clock, after a short illness of about twenty hours. His disorder was an inflamatory sore throat, which proceeded from a cold of which he made but little complaint on Friday. On Saturday morning about 3 o'clock he became ill.

Dr. Craik attended him in the morning, and Dr. Dick, of Alexandria, and Dr. Brown, of Port Tobacco, were soon after called in. Every medical assistance was offered, but without the desired effect. His last scene corresponded with the whole tenor of his life; not a groan nor a complaint escaped him in extreme distress. With perfect resignation and in full possession of his reason, he closed his well-spent life.

I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

TOBIAS LEAR.

Lear (1762-1816), pictured above, was Washington's personal secretary at the time of the former president's death.

George Washington Dies

RIP, George Washington, First President of the United States, 1789-1797.

February 22, 1732 (N.S.) - December 14, 1799

A Worried Washington

On the occasion of John Jay's birthday (born 1745), the following are excepts from a letter from George Washington to Jay (pictured). Jay was a confidant of Washington's, so much so that he offered Jay the position of Secretary of State in 1789 in the newly forming government under the Constitution. Jay declined that post, which went to Thomas Jefferson. Instead, Washington appointed Jay to be the first Chief Justice of the United States, a position he held for nearly six years, though had he held on to it as a lifetime post, he would have been on the bench until 1829 -- John Marshall would have had to find something else to do.

Before all that, in 1786, a worried Washington wrote to Jay: "Your sentiments, that our affairs are drawing rapidly to a crisis, accord with my own. What the event will be is also beyond the reach of my foresight. We have errors to correct. We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation... I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation, without having lodged somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a manner, as the authority of the different state governments extends over the several States.

"Many are of opinion that Congress have too frequently made use of the suppliant humble tone of requisition, in applications to the States, when they had a right to assume their imperial dignity and command obedience. Be that as it may, requisitions are a perfect nihility, where thirteen sovereign, independent[,] disunited States are in the habit of discussing & refusing compliance with them at their option. Requisitions are actually little better than a jest and a bye word through out the Land.

"What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking, thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable & tremendous! What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal & falacious!"

The entire letter is here.

The Iconic Dollar Bill, Starring George Washington

The U.S. Government Accountability Office is being cited once again in news stories as the source of estimates that the permanent retirement of the dollar bill would save the federal government money, since coins last longer in circulation than notes. This year the GAO issued a 41-page report (GAO-11-281) entitled, "Replacing the $1 Note with a $1 Coin Would Provide a Financial Benefit to the Government."

This is nothing new. In 1993, the GAO issued, "One-Dollar Coin: Reintroduction Could Save Millions if Properly Managed" (GGD-93-56). In 1995, the agency issued, "A Dollar Coin Could Save Millions (T-GGD-95-203) as well as "1-Dollar Coin: Reintroduction Could Save Millions If It Replaced the 1-Dollar Note" (T-GGD-95-146).

Does the United States want to retire its iconic $1 note, which has featured George Washington in one form or another for nearly a century?

Other GAO reports hint at the answer, such as, "A New Dollar Coin Has Budgetary Savings Potential But Questionable Acceptability" (T-GGD-90-50, 1990); "National Coinage Proposals: Limited Public Demand for New Dollar Coin or Elimination of Pennies" (GGD-90-88, also 1990); and "New Dollar Coin: Marketing Campaign Raised Public Awareness but Not Widespread Use" (GAO-02-896, 2002).

Washington's Overdue Book

In the spring of 2010, the New York Daily News broke the story that President Washington, during his first year as president, borrowed at least one book from the New York Society Library and never returned it. The volume was The law of nations, or, Principles of the laws of nature, applied to the conduct and affairs of nations and sovereigns, by Emer de Vattel. It seems reasonable that the new chief executive might be interested in such a book, which has an 18th-century title if there ever was one.

Not long after the story broke, jokes were made about massive library fines. Mount Vernon, Washington's effective heir, however, offered to replace the volume, and formally did so in May 2010.

"To observe this auspicious occasion, the Library hosted a ceremony on May 19 at 11 a.m. at which Mount Vernon’s President, James C. Rees, and Librarian, Joan Stahl, presented the errant volume to Charles G. Berry, Chairman of the Library’s Board of Trustees and Mark Bartlett, Head Librarian," noted the New York Society Library in a statement, with no discussion of library fines.

Mount Vernon, as it happens, is in the process of establishing a library of its own: the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, which will safeguard Washington’s books and manuscripts, serve as a scholarly retreat, create educational outreach programs on Washington, and provide seminars and training programs with a special focus on Washington’s leadership. Construction of the 45,000-square-foot facility began in early 2011, with a completion date in 2013.

Washington Promoted to General of the Armies of the United States

94TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS
2ND SESSION

Joint Resolution

to provide for the appointment of George Washington to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States.

Whereas Lieutenant General George Washington of Virginia commanded our armies throughout and to the successful termination of our Revolutionary War;

Whereas Lieutenant General George Washington presided over the convention that formulated our Constitution;

Whereas Lieutenant General George Washington twice served as President of the United States of America; and

Whereas it is considered fitting and proper that no officer of the United States Army should outrank Lieutenant General George Washington on the Army list: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That

(a) for purposes of subsection (b) of this section only, the grade of General of the Armies of the United States is established, such grade to have rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present.

(b) The President is authorized and requested to appoint George Washington posthumously to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States, such appointment to take effect on July 4, 1976.

Approved October 11, 1976.

George Washington, Englishman

From a review in the Wall Street Journal of Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press, 2010) by Andrew Roberts, author of Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West.

"The adjective that best describes Washington's personality and instincts, ironically enough, is 'English.' He had a fair complexion that sunburnt easily; he bought his clothes and most other goods from London merchants; he never affirmed the divinity of Jesus Christ but actively supported his local Anglican churches; he rebuilt Mount Vernon (named after an English admiral) on classically English architectural principles; he was phlegmatic and disliked overfamiliarity; he even played cricket during the dark days of Valley Forge. Mr. Chernow ascribes his break with Britain to the moronic refusal of the British authorities to grant Washington a regular army commission. 'His hostility to the mother country,' Mr. Chernow writes, 'was a case of thwarted love.' (Though he hints that it might also have involved greed, since Britain was threatening to curtail the distinctly dodgy Ohio land speculation that was enriching Washington in the mid-1770s.)

Damage to the Washington Monument

Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said at a press conference today at the National Mall that the Washington Monument is "structurally sound" and -- as if anyone had any doubts -- "not going anywhere."

The monument, standing 555 feet and one-eighths inches tall on the Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, was damaged during the August 23, 2011, earthquake that shook the East Coast, and has been closed to tourists since then. According to Vogel, the quake damaged the elevator and put at least four cracks in the structure.

The Park Service will undertake an inspection of the exterior this week, with Brandon Lathan, a mountaineering specialist ranger, rappelling down the monument to look for more damage. Except some interesting pictures of the rappelling in the media in the days ahead.

The Washington Monument is the world's tallest stone structure, naturally dedicated to the memory of the First President of the United States, with construction beginning in 1848, during the term of the 11th President of the United States (Polk). It was dedicated in 1885, near the end of the term of the 21st President of the United States (Arthur).

Washington Wears a Toga

According to the web site of the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, "In 1832 the U.S. Congress commissioned sculptor Horatio Greenough to create a statue of George Washington on the occasion of the centennial of the first president’s birthday. Installed in the Capitol Rotunda after its completion, Greenough envisioned the statue to be a symbolic representation of Washington as a great exemplar of liberty.

"The completed 12-ton marble statue atop a granite pedestal and base depicted the first president wearing a chest-baring toga. While many viewers appreciated the artist’s attempt to create a timeless masterpiece, others saw only an inappropriately dressed Washington. A friend of the artist noted: 'This magnificent production of genius does not seem to be appreciated at its full value in this metropolis.'

"Greenough’s sculpture is enriched with symbols: Washington’s figure is modeled on the classic statuary of ancient Greece, seat of the world’s first democracy. Carvings on the sides depict the Greek god Apollo and an infant Hercules. Small flanking figures of an American Indian and Christopher Columbus represent the New and Old Worlds. The most important symbol, however, is the sword in Washington’s outstretched hand: this celebrates the fact that after he led the country to victory in the American Revolution, he selflessly relinquished his power to the people.

"The statue was on display in the Capitol Rotunda from 1841 to 1843 when it was relocated to the east lawn. In 1908 Congress transferred the statue to the Smithsonian Institution, where it was exhibited in the Smithsonian Castle until its relocation to the new National Museum of American History in 1964. It has resided on the second floor of the Museum ever since."

December 23, 1783: The American Cincinnatus

In the Senate chamber of the Maryland State House in December 1783, while the Congress of the Confederation was meeting there temporarily, George Washington formally resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. In his short resignation speech, the Roman civic exemplar Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus wasn't mentioned, but surely he was on the minds of those assembled for the occasion. Washington said:

"The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulations to Congress and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the Service of my Country.

"Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence. A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.

"The Successful termination of the War has verified the most sanguine expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous Contest.

"While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar Services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the War. It was impossible the choice of confidential Officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me Sir, to recommend in particular those, who have continued in Service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress.

"I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commending the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.

"Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life."

December 14, 1799: George Washington Dies

On December 14, 1799, His Excellency, the First President of the United States, George Washington -- variously nicknamed the Father of His Country, the Sword of the Revolution, the American Fabius, the American Cincinnatus, the Old Fox, the Sage of Mount Vernon, the Farmer President and the Surveyor President -- died at his home of pneumonia or perhaps epiglottitis, made worse by medical bleeding. He was the only president whose lifespan was completely within the 18th century.

Congress selected Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee to deliver a eulogy on behalf of the nation. Lee, a former Continental army officer and a Virginia congressman (and the father of Robert E. Lee), delivered the immortal speech on December 26, 1799:

"First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate and sincere—uniform, dignified and commanding—his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting... Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues... Such was the man for whom our nation mourns."

Today is also the anniversary of the death of football player George Gipp, who died in 1920. In 1940, Ronald Reagan played him in the movie Knute Rockne, All American, and the nickname Gipper stuck to the future 40th President of the United States.

December 6, 1884:Washington Monument Completed

December 6 boasts of a number of events in presidential and near-presidential history. In 1884, the long-planned, long-delayed Washington Monument was completed with the setting of its capstone, making the monument 555 feet 5⅛ inches tall, then the tallest structure in the world. (It would be surpassed by the Eiffel Tower a few years later.)

Five years later, on December 6, 1889, the first and only president of the CSA, Jefferson Davis, died of natural causes at age 81. He was in New Orleans at the time of his death, and buried there. In 1893, a funeral train was organized to take his body to Richmond via Gulfport, Miss.; Mobile; Montgomery; Atlanta; Greenville, SC; Raleigh; and Danville, Va. Thousands turned out along the route to pay their respects.

In 1923, Calvin Coolidge's first State of the Union speech was also the first one ever broadcast on the radio, in this case six powerful stations -- perhaps as many as a million people heard the speech. On March 4, 1925, his inauguration was the first one broadcast.

In 1973, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 40th Vice President of the United States. Ford was one of the seven vice presidents who spent less than a year in that position -- a fraternity that also includes John Tyler, Andrew Johnson, William R. King, Harry Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, Chester Arthur and Thomas Hendricks.