Last April, I gave a talk at the Saratoga Springs History Museum on the George Washington we didn’t learn about in school. My premise is simple - we don't think of GW the way he thought of himself. One historian says Washington's in our wallets, but not in our hearts. Another claims he's the man who became a monument. Of him, John Adams said, "He had the gift of silence." George was a man of business who regarded government service as a distraction. There was a George Washington brand flower marketed in the Colonies. He was likely the first investor in an American coal mine. GW tried - and failed - to harness the Potomac River as a commercial highway to the interior of the growing land. When he went to New York to take the oath of office as our first president, he wrote to a friend likening the trip as a man going to his execution. He had a similar reaction to heading the Continental Army and leading the Constitutional Convention, as well. His most important decision when commanding the Army was a medical one. Now there have been developments in my public speaking efforts.
© 2024 John Oliver
Substack is the home for great culture