In George We Trust

February 22, 2024

George Washington was born too early to be a Star Wars fan. But the Force was with him.

I wasn’t quite sure how I’d feel about him as I recently read my first biography of the man on our one dollar bill. He seemed too dignified, too remote, a slave owner from another time and place. But in his book Washington: A Life, author Ron Chernow, whose biography of another Founding Father inspired the Broadway musical Hamilton, introduced me to one of the most complicated, contradictory, and extraordinary human beings to ever live on this continent.

And yes, it seems that Washington was chosen by a higher power, fated for a great role in establishing a government by the people and not by a monarch or strongman. Or at least that’s how he saw his destiny, and that’s how many of his contemporaries saw him as well.

As a colonial officer in the British army during the French and Indian war, “because of his height, he presented a gigantic target on horseback, but again he displayed unblinking courage and a miraculous immunity in battle…Washington’s derring-do even fostered a lasting mystique among the Indians…Fifteen years later he encountered an Indian chief who distinctly recalled seeing him at the battle by the Monongahela and told how he had ordered his warriors, without success, to fire directly at him. The chief had concluded that some great spirit would guide him to momentous things in the future.”

Later, in the Revolutionary War, General Washington “seemed blessed with a supernatural immunity to bullets…(He) construed favorable events in the war as reflections of Providence, transforming him from an actor in a human drama into a tool of heavenly purpose.”

“Providence” certainly chose a flawed human being as an instrument for the advancement of the human race. He was selfish, greedy, materialistic, a tight-fisted sharp-elbowed businessman, and at times a harsh slave owner. He was an aristocratic control freak with a terrible temper.

But his ambivalent views on slavery evolved over time, and he eventually freed his slaves upon his death. His tenacity and courage kept the Revolution alive during the misery of Valley Forge and eight years of defeats, deprivation, and lack of support from the Continental Congress. He was not corrupted by fame or power, and he shocked the Europeans by refusing to be made a king and by voluntarily giving up power after being a victorious general and then again after the “towering legacy” of his two highly successful and productive terms as president. He was honest, he ensured the survival of the Constitution, and “most of all he had shown a disbelieving world that a republican government could prosper without being spineless or disorderly or reverting to authoritarian rule.”

Was Washington really some sort of Jedi knight, guided and protected by a greater Force or higher consciousness in order to advance the cause of human democracy and liberty? After reading Chernow’s book, it sure seems like it. But whether it was Providence or just dumb luck, we could certainly use someone like Washington now.

Happy birthday, George. And thank you for your service.