Remember the name——- George Washington.
He led an unprofessional, undisciplined Army against the greatest
military and economic force on Earth: the British Empire.
He was among the richest Men in America. He could have stayed
home in the comfort and security of his Mansion, or Toured the
world in style.
Instead, he spent 6 years touring Forests and Swamps while
shivering in the cold ! This proud man willingly kneeled in prayer,
asking that God preserve the Infant nation in whose care he was
entrusted.
His brilliant mind grasped that British forces in America were at the
end of a 3000-mile-long supply line, and even that depended on wind-
powered sailing ships.
If only he could keep Armies in the Field, in the vastness of a mostly-
unsettled America, he would bleed the British into defeat. When he
captured all of Lord Cornwallis’ army intact at Yorktown, Virginia in
1781, it was the blow that made Britain finally accept that he was right.
When the War ended, King George III asked his envoys what George
Washington was doing. They told him Washington had retired from
public life. George III was incredulous. Were they sure? Yes, his
ambassadors replied, General Washington resigned his command of
the Continental Army and returned to Mount Vernon.
George III was completely stunned. He leaned back in his chair and
said, “If this be true, then George Washington must be the greatest
Man in the World.”
George Washington was too noble for such mundane plans as making
himself King or dictator. That was beneath him. Not for nothing did his
fellows name him the, “Father of His Country.”
Washington did it again in 1797 [voluntarily walked away from undisputed
power] at the end of his Presidency. He told his friends, “Gentlemen, if
you wish to speak to me again, it will
be under my own Fig and Vine.”
The other Founders gladly gave Washington control of the Army because
they knew he could be trusted with power, that he would never use it for
his personal gain.
Let us remember the real reason for Presidents Day: to Honor those
Patriots who preserved our Country. George Washington was the
Greatest American who ever Lived, and it was truly a blessing that
God put him here when he was needed the most.