Presidents Day Reflections on George Washington’s Character

We should today praise Caesar the man who could have been Caesar in the hope that his deeds won’t be buried but will remain first in the hearts his descendants.

Friends, Americans, and countrymen, this President’s Day we remember not only the birth but also the character of George Washington.

Washington was an avid supporter of character throughout his life. Washington was unflinching about demonstrating it and was committed to its advancement throughout the country.

Many Americans are familiar with the history of our first president. Washington could have been a king but chose not, because he was an American statesman who loved the republic and not a tyrant obsessed with his own glory.

He was an extraordinary general who defeated the most powerful military of his day. His troubles led to a presidency that was marked by numerous calamities. every decision determining The authority and limits of the office.

His most remarkable move was his resignation from power. Twice.

Washington, despite his many remarkable achievements, must not be overlooked or underestimated as a thinker.

Washington’s understanding of republican government was no less comprehensive or consistent than his fellow Founders. While he had little formal education, he determined to offset that disadvantage with his own efforts. Like Jane Austen’s character Elizabeth Bennet, in his books Washington had “all the masters that were necessary” for his edification, and at the end of his life, he left behind 1,200 titles.

Washington’s enduring enterprise was to establish a national character. He did this with deliberate purpose and philosophical understanding. In his Circular to the States in 1783, he explained that there were four pillars essential to America’s well-being:

1st. An indissoluble Union of the States under one federal Head.

2ndly. A sacred regard to Public Justice.

3dly. The adoption of a proper Peace Establishment, and

4thly. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly Disposition among the People of the United States, which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and policies, to make those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity, and, in some instances, to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the Community.

At that point in the nation’s history, many Americans still thought of themselves as citizens of a particular state, rather than of a unified nation. Establishing a people united in their defense of and adherence to republican principles was an act of character formation that necessitated the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution working on Americans over time.

Required more immediately were common interactions among citizens. With that in view, one of the major initiatives Washington championed was the Potomac River project.

Washington, along with James Madison, sought to link the East and the West through river improvements, opening up trade as well as travel. The purpose of the project was not merely to improve infrastructure, but to strengthen the union. Citizens from seemingly disparate parts of the nation could come together in commerce and travel, forget their local prejudices, and build goodwill as countrymen.

To establish a “sacred regard to Public Justice,” Washington believed just conduct on the national level would need to replicate virtue on the individual level. For example, Congress paying its war debts was a matter of duty, and Washington urged for that “debt of honor and of gratitude” to be met with honesty, dignity, and energy.

More fundamentally, if American citizens “should not be completely free & happy, the fault will be entirely their own. … [I]t is in their choice, and depends upon their conduct, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptible and miserable as a nation. … This is the moment to establish or ruin their national character forever.”

America would not become a self-governing nation by simply winning independence. A republican system requires that the people accept their requisite duties by developing in themselves a character equal to the task of citizen rule.

Reason governs the passions of such a people while they themselves abide by the law.

In promoting such public justice, Washington began with himself. The result, as Rep. Daniel Webster once remarked, was that America “furnished to the world the character of Washington! And if our American institutions had done nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind.”

Throughout his life, Washington was determined to prevent weaknesses in his own character and serve as a model for others. As a young man, he copied “The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation” because he took manners seriously as reflective of underlying principles.

As a commander, he was cognizant of being an example for his officers and demanded they do the same for the troops. Washington achieved with the army what he later sought to do with the nation: bring together disparate groups of people and unite them in adherence to good conduct.

Washington’s character suited him for this purpose. No other Founder, for all their distinct and significant contributions, embodied the virtues Americans admire quite like Washington.

Indeed, there was nothing small about Washington. In addition to his physical height of six feet and ramrod posture, Washington was courageous, dutiful, and generous.

As a Washington scholar once explained to me, “What we admire about Washington is simply this: He gave everything for his country, and asked of us nothing in return.” But though he never asked, perhaps we can offer him something. It is within us, and us alone, to ensure the character of America’s general lives on after him.

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