“Washington’s Birthday”

Sydney M. Williams

Thought of the Day

“Washington’s Birthday”

February 22, 2012
Until I was thirty, this day was celebrated as a national holiday, honoring the birth date of our first President, George Washington. For eighty-five years it had been a federal holiday. In 1968, Congress passed the impersonally named Uniform Holidays Act, which changed the holiday to the third Monday of February, to take effect in 1971. The holiday has become known as President’s Day, lest any former or sitting President take umbrage.

George Washington was born under the (old style) Julian Calendar, on February 11, 1731, the calendar which was in use by Great Britain at the time. The Gregorian Calendar (new style), adopted by England in 1752, moved the date of Washington’s birth to February 22, 1732.

Washington is worth remembering not just for his having led a be-draggled, poorly fed, ill-equipped Continental Army to victory over the most powerful nation the world had known, and for being our first President, but for his sagacity in terms of ensuring the powers of the executive, while limiting the reach of the office. He understood, perhaps better than any of his peers, that everything he did as chief executive of the newly formed United States of America set a precedent. Despite his republican (though patrician) Virginia roots, his sympathies lay more with New England federalists. He instinctively understood the importance of a central government, in terms of foreign affairs and the necessity of funding those efforts, whether for purposes of commerce or defense. He thought big. He assumed the small country (3.9 million people in 1790) of which he was President was destined for greatness.

Washington was noted as a good listener, but he was also decisive, never second guessing his decisions. He respected the dignity of the office, but avoided the trappings. He recognized that the office was bigger than the man. After the Revolution, he could have assumed any office, including that of king. Instead, he chose the more humble title of President. He was the only man ever to receive 100 percent of the Electoral College votes. He despised political parties, yet had to contend with and manage the strong, conflicting personalities of his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson and his equally capable Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. The former became the head of the Jefferson Republican Party, while Federalists orbited around Hamilton. Jefferson (at least until he became President in 1801) was an advocate for states’ rights. Hamilton, with bills to pay, championed the need for a central bank and for the ability of the federal government to assess taxes.

While Washington was brought up among the gentry of Virginia, he was not wealthy. He had little formal schooling, something he always regretted. He was unusually tall for that age, at a little over six feet, and his early military training gave him a presence beyond his years. Lord Fairfax, the only British Peer then living in the Colonies, was a distant relation. And it may have been that Washington wanted to make a good impression on that family who took him under their wings that got him to write down the 110 Rules of Civility before he turned sixteen. Whatever the reason, he abided by those rules and they served him well. Those simple, commonsensical rules are missing in contentious Washington today. They should be required reading for anyone serving in Washington, or, for that matter, we should all abide by them.

While a President’s Day appeals to our frivolous side – extended weekends are more fun than a single day off in the middle of the week, and are far more efficient to businesses – in not celebrating the actual day, we lose something in terms of how we think of our past. And a country’s past is an essential ingredient of the glue that binds us as a people. When I was a child we also celebrated Lincoln’s birth date on February 12th. Every child knew the date. At school, we studied the men and their times. It is appalling how little elementary school children today know of the great American men and women who led our country, the deeds they did, and how they helped forge the nation we are all so privileged to live in.

Washington was remembered, at the time of his death in 1799, as “First in War, First in Peace and First in the Hearts of his Countrymen.” Whether your family arrived here via Ellis Island in 1908, or whether you snuck across the Rio Grande in 2008, or whether you came here as a slave or indentured servant three hundred years ago, we all owe a great deal of thanks to the man born this day two hundred and eighty years ago.

The 110th (and final) Rule of Civility reads: “Labour to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire called Conscience.” It is a rule, during these disharmonious times, worth reciting and maintaining.