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Once Upon a Time There Was an Idea Called George Washington
North Miami Beach, Florida 2-22-2000 Aaron H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS AN IDEA NAMED GEORGE W
Once upon a time there was an idea named George Washington. This idea was
about the perfect "Father of Our Country", "The First President and What
Were His Qualities" and "The Man and His Character". The idea of George
Washington expanded way beyond his life and times. It expanded to include a
lot of claptrap that obscured the perfectly human origins and development of
a man who attracted a great deal of interest and support from among his
contemporaries. His descendants are the people of the country he helped
form.
Some people rise to eminence because of the families into which they are
born. These are favored in some ways, mostly by money and the ability to
make and keep that commodity. Having money enables the members of that
family to acquire education, contacts and opportunities denied to the less
fortunate.
Some people rise to eminence because they are favored by physique, by
personality, and good luck. These are handsome, well set up and pleasant to
look at individuals despite descending from ill-favored family members.
They are remarked because they make friends easily, impress the
impressionable without any pressure on their part and seem to miss stepping
into the cowflops of human experience that dot the pathways of us all.
George Washington did not need the press releases of his time that made him
into an unreal prodigy. He was an outdoorsman, a rider of good horseflesh
and an attractive man who carved a path through the womankind of his day.
He was an unusually un-aspiring man who inspired the backing of Americans
who wanted freedom from England. He was a leader who led by example, his
own privation and his own beliefs in a new idea - democracy. He was
reluctant to leave home and family but accepted the call by others for him
to lead.
Once upon a time there was an idea named George Washington. We remember
him in many ways. Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.
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